In Tomorrow...
by Anne-girl1
Summary: *COMPLETED* I don't know what to make of this story. It's about a foster care child and her muum comes to get her and she eventually goes to Hogwarts, blah, blah, blah...R/R let me see what you think...
1. Chapter One

1 Chapter One  
  
"Come on and get me, Melanie! On guard!" Hannah yelled, raising her plastic sword.  
  
"Oh, yeah? Bring it!" Melanie rushed forward and pounced onto the ten-year- old and they went rolling down the hill, their swords forgotten on the top.  
  
Laughing, Hannah scrambled up and pushed Melanie back down before tripping herself on her own foot. Two more voices filled the air, running down the slope.  
  
"Dog pile!" Katelyn yelled and she flung herself onto the two girls.  
  
"Wait for me!" little Sharon yelled, running as fast as her little legs could go, then adding a cherry to the human ice cream sundae.  
  
"mmfff—ok, ok, off, off!" a muffled command came from the bottom of the pile and Hannah squeezed out.  
  
"Girls, get up and wash up for supper!" a voice came the hilltop.  
  
"Coming Mrs. Foster! Last one up is a rotten egg!" Hannah jumped to her feet and ran up to the house tripping and watching Melanie yell her way past.  
  
"No you don't! No you don't!" Hannah got up, brushed her overalls off and ran, screaming to the back porch.  
  
"Hush, child, you'll wake the neighbors!" Mrs. Foster shook a finger from the doorway.  
  
"At seven o'clock?" Hannah shouted even louder. Mrs. Foster fought a laugh.  
  
"Yes, child at seven o'clock, the night comes earlier now remember? It's October. And you have school tomorrow. Another full day of fifth grade."  
  
"How could I have forgotten?" Hannah gave a sarcastic look.  
  
The girls assembled around the table in the tiny kitchen. They all scrambled to get nearest to the stove because there it was the warmest. It felt really good after a play in the frosty twilight especially during the winter. Melanie "Foster" sat down next to Hannah, grabbing a fork from the counter. Katelyn and Sharon climbed into their seats across from the two ten-year-olds.  
  
Hannah was an orphan as far as she knew and she had been living with Mrs. "Foster" and her daughter Melanie since she was four years old. The funniest thing that Mrs. Foster always used to tell her is that when Hannah first came to live with them, she asked,  
  
"Are you Mrs. Foster?" and Mrs. Foster would look confused and said,  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Mrs. Foster. The orphanage said I'd be living with foster parents. So are you Mrs. Foster?" and laughingly the mother would reply,  
  
"Yes, dear."  
  
And so it stuck. Mr. and Mrs. Foster were the only parents she ever knew. They had lived in a little apartment on the outskirts of Manchester, England for six years and Hannah had been like their other daughter. The two girls, Melanie and Hannah, were like twins, both being the same age and both were quite adventurous talkative folk.  
  
Hannah was always getting into mischief. She lived for tormenting Mrs. Foster's life out. She could talk a hind leg off a mule, as Mrs. Foster would say. But that wasn't all Hannah was interested in. She also lived for books and was a brilliant child from very young. Her 'classics' as she called them, were The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe and Robin Hood and The Many Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as well as many others. She longed to be those beloved characters and to be able to go to distant places to fight off evil and solve mysteries. She pretended once that she was Peter Pan and broke both her ankles falling off the shed roof, believing she could fly. Her vivid imagination got her into strange situations. Once in fourth grade, a math teacher asked her a question that she didn't know the answer to and Hannah imagined her nose turn all spotty for the embarrassment. And it did. The teacher's nose grew little purple spots, so that the teacher had to rush from the room with a handkerchief over her face. Another time, Hannah got angry at Melanie and wished her far away and Melanie ended up sitting on top of the house. Hannah gave no explanation for that which was odd because that was her nature, giving explanations that nobody really understood. Mrs. Foster always thought her a strange little girl.  
  
So life went on and Hannah almost forgot that she was an orphan. She pretended that the Foster family was like in the novel Little Women where the four girls were all sisters in reality and not just one daughter and three others thrown in along the way. Katelyn and Sharon were the eight- year-old twins and were also brought into foster care. They had never been separated from each other and had been brought from a number of different foster care homes.  
  
"Pass the salt, please," Sharon said.  
  
"No I can't," Hannah explained, "Miss Salt is right in the middle of her wedding ceremony to Mr. Pepper. And see, look, the parmesan cheese is her bridesmaid."  
  
"Hannah, please stop and hand her the salt." Mrs. Foster gave her a look. Hannah yielded meekly and murmured, "So goes another marriage, so sad. That's the fourth time in the last hour."  
  
"Ahem," Mrs. Foster looked up, "Eat your potatoes, Hannah. And no questions or explanations."  
  
When everyone had finished, Mrs. Foster sent them off to bed. Hannah skipped off to bed, explaining to Mrs. Foster that sleep was like the next best adventure to being awake. Mrs. Foster simply shook her head.  
  
Hannah skipped up to her room that she shared with Melanie and changed into her nightgown. Then she scrambled under her covers and turned out the light.  
  
"Hannah?" Sharon had slipped in and sat on Hannah's bed about twenty minutes later.  
  
"I can't sleep."  
  
"Why not?" Hannah turned over sleepily.  
  
"I just can't. I'm tired, but I can't fall asleep."  
  
"Ah, that happens to me often. Too much stuff in my mind." Hannah propped her elbow up on her pillow. "But you know what I do?"  
  
"No, what?" the eight-year-old's eyes widened with wonder.  
  
"I just think of Tomorrow."  
  
"Tomorrow?"  
  
"Yes, because in Tomorrow everything will be perfect. There'll be lots of sunshine and flowers and no icky school. I'll actually see a fairy and maybe a wizard with a long beard. And you know what else? My parents will be there."  
  
"Mine too?" Sharon asked.  
  
"Of course. In Tomorrow, everything is just as it should be. Now, you just dream of that and I can assure you, you'll go to bed in a snap!"  
  
"Thanks, Hannah. I can't wait to go to sleep now!"  
  
Sharon kissed her friend on the cheek and ran off out the door. Hannah smiled after her and wondered whether Tomorrow would ever arrive.  
  
"Hurry up, Mum says she's having company today!" Melanie beckoned to Hannah.  
  
"Oh, yay! Come on!" Hannah burst through the door of the apartment and ran up the stairs to their home. She ran in, throwing her shoes off on the way and skipped into the dining room, stopping short. Melanie bumped into her from behind.  
  
A woman sat in the one of the chairs from Mrs. Foster, sipping tea from one of Mrs. Foster's best tea sets. She was short and plump with a jolly face and big brown eyes that smiled with her lips. Her dark hair was pulled into a clip on the top of her head with lengths of it falling about her face. Hannah arched her eyebrows at this strange woman.  
  
Mrs. Foster came in carrying a tray of biscuits in from the kitchen. Any other day, Hannah would of marveled at the smell of baking biscuits and tea, but the sight of this woman made her uneasy, despite her cheerful face.  
  
"Hannah? Could we see you alone please?" Mrs. Foster looked over at Melanie, telling her with her eyes that she had to leave. Melanie sighed and turned back out to run up to her room.  
  
"Come sit down, Hannah and have tea with us." Mrs. Foster seemed strangely distant with Hannah and, yes, Hannah noticed, her eyes were rather misty. The mother sat down and offered Hannah a biscuit, which Hannah refused.  
  
"Hannah this may come as a shock to you." Mrs. Foster began. "Do you know who this woman is?"  
  
"Not at all. Though, I'm sure I will know you in Tomorrow, ma'am, will you be in Tomorrow?"  
  
"Why yes of course, dear one." the lady smiled. Hannah was a little relieved by this, but didn't return the smile.  
  
"Well, I will be glad to tell you that this your mother, Hannah." Mrs. Foster's eyes were definitely welling up now, Hannah thought. She gasped wide-eyed at the woman.  
  
"Yes, dear, you are my daughter and I came here today to ask permission for you to move in with me in my home. I would love to have you."  
  
"Yes, I'm sure you would." Hannah said. She meant it politely, but Mrs. Foster obviously took it as sarcasm.  
  
"Hannah, speak nicely to your mother." At this statement, Mrs. Foster broke down and hurried off into the kitchen.  
  
"Hannah, I wish to know," the lady inquired, staring with her soft eyes, "would you like to have a mother?"  
  
"Oh, yes, more than you'll ever know!" Hannah exclaimed, clasping her hands together.  
  
"Then it is only right that you must come and live with me."  
  
Hannah nodded, totally bewildered, not knowing she had just made a huge decision. 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
Hannah suddenly came to her senses. Wait a sec, she had just decided to move in with this strange lady whom she had just met. She looked in horror at the smiling face in front of her. The face seemed friendly, but so did the English teacher in the story she had read recently before he took the characters and attempted to murder them. This lady could be filled with powers of evil. Behind that face could be magical powers beyond Hannah's imagination. Hannah shuddered and backed away.  
  
"Come dear one, shall we get your things together?" the lady stood up and walked around the table. And Hannah noticed that the woman was not dressed in everyday clothing. Why, she was wearing robes! They were very pretty violet ones too. That's it, Hannah thought, she's a witch and she's here to kidnap me and take me to her secret lair to boil me in her cauldron with her two witch friends, like in Macbeth.  
  
The woman reached out a hand and stroked the little girl's brow. Hannah sighed as the soft silky fingers brushed her hair away. And Hannah was suddenly torn in two. She could go with this lady, she could. It would be the adventure of a lifetime, even if she was kidnapped, that would make it even more exciting! Suddenly, Hannah changed her mind and decided, yes, she would go with this lady who said she was her mother.  
  
"Come, I'll show you my room." Hannah took her mother's hand and brought her down the hall to the side bedroom, running in and pulling out a suitcase from under the bed.  
  
"This is my one suitcase and it will definitely fit all of my stuff, I don't have a lot, you see." Hannah pulled clothes out of her drawers and her especial books and papers. Her mother watched in interest. Soon, Hannah seemed ready and looked around her room, sighing. Melanie strolled in and stopped short at the sight of the suitcase.  
  
"Where are you going?" she asked, as if afraid of the answer.  
  
"I'm moving away…to live with my mother." Hannah said simply, looking seriously at her friend.  
  
"B-but you can't!" Melanie sobbed. "You have to stay here with me!"  
  
"I am here in spirit. Remember, if we never see each other again, we will meet in Tomorrow, Mel. And I can always write you letters."  
  
"But it won't be the same. Mother's crying in the kitchen. You'd better go say g-g-goodbye!" she flung herself on her bed. Hannah ran over and hugged Melanie, then grabbed her suitcase and walked slowly out of the room for the last time.  
  
She peeked into Katelyn and Sharon's room and they were playing with blocks.  
  
"No, no, no Kate! This one goes there, that's the only way you'll make a tunnel!"  
  
"Sorry, Miss know-it-all."  
  
"I am not miss know-it-all."  
  
"You are too."  
  
"I am not."  
  
"Are too."  
  
"Am not."  
  
"Hey!" Hannah stepped in. They both stopped in the middle of tugging at a red block and looked back at Hannah.  
  
"I just wanted to say goodbye."  
  
"Goodbye? Where you going?"  
  
"You better be home for supper. Mrs. Foster was mad the last time."  
  
"No, Sharon, I'm moving."  
  
"WHAT?!" they ran over and put their hands on their hips.  
  
"Why?" in chorus.  
  
"Because this is my mother." Hannah pointed to the lady behind her. The twins looked over the lady and concluded that it had to be true. Hannah did look like the woman behind her. They both had long black straight hair and big soft brown eyes.  
  
"But why?" they started, "Don't you love us anymore?"  
  
Hannah almost broke down then at their sad faces.  
  
"Why, yes, of course I love you! You can write me as soon as I send you my address. I don't think we'll be moving very far."  
  
"Come visit often."  
  
"Goodbye, girls." Hannah kissed each of their foreheads and left the room.  
  
Mrs. Foster bad her farewell, she seemed to have stopped crying, and gave her a big hug, kissing on the top of the head.  
  
"Goodbye, little Hannah. Be good to your mother and don't drive her crazy like you did me."  
  
"Bye, Mrs. Foster. I'll write, I promise."  
  
With that said her mother and her left the apartment and proceeded down to the taxi that was waiting on the curb. Hannah looked sadly back at the building and saw a face peering out of the window. Melanie waved from behind the curtain and disappeared. Hannah stepped into the cab and sat by the window. Her mother sat next to her and gazed at her.  
  
"Are you all right, dear?" Hannah looked at the lady sitting in the cab.  
  
"All right? All right?" Hannah raised her little voice. "Of course, I'm not all right! I come home from school and there's this strange woman in robes to take me away, never to go to that school again or live in that apartment again with Melanie and Katelyn and Sharon and Mrs. Foster. No, I'm not all right!"  
  
Her mother looked taken aback. Hannah sighed.  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'll be all right in a few days, after I explore my new home."  
  
She looked back out the window for a few moments then turned back.  
  
"What is my last name?"  
  
"Rosenfeld. Hannah Rosenfeld."  
  
"Oh. That's a very sophisticated name, isn't it?"  
  
"Oh, indeed yes."  
  
"And where will I go to school now?"  
  
"Well, um, actually, you won't be going to school for the rest of the year and I will put you in a different school next year."  
  
"Really? Well, my luck certainly is going good. No school for nearly a whole year. That's incredible!"  
  
Mrs. Rosenfeld laughed. Hannah liked the laugh from first hearing. It was clear and sweet, like ripples in water when you drop a pebble in.  
  
They drove on in silence for a while until they stopped in front of a huge house.  
  
"Who lives here?" Hannah asked, bewildered.  
  
"You do now."  
  
Hannah had no words, but just raised her eyebrows, gazing at the tall walls of the manor that stood before her. The cab stopped in a front of a long driveway, helping the girls with their bags. Mrs. Rosenfeld took Hannah by the hand and led her to the front door and stepping in.  
  
Hannah gasped. Inside was a long, curving staircase with long, shiny railings. It seemed a palace to the ten-year-old. She dropped her suitcase and jumped up the stairs. There was a pause. Mrs. Rosenfeld was just about to go up when there came a yell and Hannah came whizzing down the banister and landing in a heap at her mother's feet.  
  
"Whew! I've always wanted to do that! In Tomorrow, there will be staircases galore for sliding."  
  
"Come, let me take you to your room." a voice said behind her. A maid in black picked up the suitcase and started up the stairs.  
  
"Follow me," she said. Hannah followed meekly up the stairs and down a long hallway until she was dropped off in front of a door.  
  
"Here's your room, Miss Hannah, please put away your clothes neatly and don't make a mess on the floor."  
  
"Why would I do that?" she asked in reply. But in an hour's time, there were clothes all over the carpet. Mrs. Rosenfeld came in.  
  
"Hannah! What is all this!" Hannah looked up from kneeling in front of the dresser with a frustrated look on her face.  
  
"Every time I try to put clothes in the drawer, it somehow spits them back out!"  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. It tends to do that to new-comers."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Mrs. Rosenfeld walked over and took out a stick of wood from her sleeve. She waved it and muttered something, and the drawer closed slowly. Hannah gaped in shock.  
  
"What did you just do?" Mrs. Rosenfeld knelt beside Hannah and looked seriously in her face.  
  
"I'm going to tell you something that you may not believe."  
  
"Tell me, I'll pretend I do."  
  
"Well, first of all, I'm a witch."  
  
"Oh, I knew that."  
  
"You did?"  
  
"Yeah, you wore robes today. I thought you were going to kidnap me and boil me in your cauldron with other witches." Mrs. Rosenfeld laughed again.  
  
"Not at all, why I brought you here for one main reason." She took a breath. "The reason you are not going to school this year is because you will be going a special school away north of London."  
  
"A private school?" Hannah moaned.  
  
"Well, sort of. You stay over night there. You see, Hannah, you are a witch as well." 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
"What?" Hannah cried in disbelief. "OK, wait a minute. I can believe that you're my mother and I can sort of believe that you're a witch, but I refuse to believe that I, all of people, am a witch too!"  
  
She gasped for breath. Her mother sighed and her shoulders slumped.  
  
"Come on, let me show you something."  
  
She took Hannah's hand and led her down the hall to her bedroom. It was a fairly large bedroom, with a master bed in the middle, with dark thick sheets that looked like clouds. Hannah wanted to jump on it, but held herself.  
  
Mrs. Rosenfeld walked over to the closet, opening it and pulling out a red book. She sat on the bed and motioned for Hannah to come over. She opened the red book and sat Hannah next to her. It was a photo album and it was filled with wizard pictures.  
  
Hannah marveled at the moving people in the photographs. Mrs. Rosenfeld turned to the second page. "Look here, here's your pa, and there's me, and there's you, when you were just a wee thing."  
  
"How old was I?" Hannah asked.  
  
"I believe this picture was taken a few months after our wedding, so you couldn't have been a year yet."  
  
The picture was old and frayed. There was a young man, who looked around his mid-twenties and a woman with the same dark hair and sweet- lipped smile Mrs. Rosenfeld had. In the mother's arms was a baby with a light wisp of blackish hair tied in a bow on top of her head. She was smiling and clapping her hands.  
  
"So that's me…" Hannah pointed, her voice trailing off, thinking.  
  
"Where is Daddy anyway?" She remembered she hadn't seen yet. Mother looked a little taken aback by this. She started stuttering.  
  
"Well—um, dear, he's—he passed away when you were four years old."  
  
Hannah's eyes fluttered downward then fluttered back up in anger.  
  
"Why did you send my away in the first place?" she put her hands on her hips.  
  
"We—I, wanted to protect you." Mrs. Rosenfeld stroked Hannah's head. Hannah pushed her away.  
  
"From what?" Mother sighed.  
  
"I will explain things when you're older."  
  
"That's what everybody says. Don't' they think I'm mature enough to take what people say? I'm smarter than I look. Old people always say that to young people thinkin' they don't know what's right. Well, I don't like being treated that way. I think it's just—unfair!"  
  
All of a sudden, her mum burst into tears. Hannah gave a little intake of breath and then relaxed.  
  
"Oh, Mama, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I only don't like when other people say it, not you. Besides, I can wait for anything you want to tell me."  
  
Her mother didn't say anything, just kissed her on the forehead and said a quiet goodnight.  
  
Hannah leaped off the bed and started off towards the door and she stopped and turned around slowly.  
  
"You know, in Tomorrow, there'll be no one to tell me I'm too young or old to do anything. You are allowed to hear what you want."  
  
"Yes, dear. Good night."  
  
"Good night."  
  
Hannah trudged off to her room.  
  
For the rest of that year, she explored the house from top to bottom. Outside the back porch that stretched really far, there were acres and acres of land filled with secret gardens that needed naming, wood nymphs to find, butterflies to catch, and other places that needed companionship. With Sally, the head maid, she became fast friends.  
  
"And the garden that's away far in the corner near the northern border of the field, where the big peonies are, is the Tomorrow Road. It has this little path that leads past the fence away beyond to the coast and along the beach, but I dare not go down it because the closer I'll get to Tomorrow."  
  
Hannah was sitting on the verandah with Sally, sipping from a cup of tea one afternoon in early April. The first five months had gone without a care and to Hannah they seemed to fly.  
  
"Soon I'll be going back to school again. Mum says I'll get a special letter from the school. I can't wait till it comes because I love receiving mail. I get letters from Melanie and the twins all the time and I write them back, but a new letter is just a bit more exciting, don't you think? I mean, no offense to the girls at all, but I know nothing about my new school because Mum wants to keep it a surprise. She says I must wait another four months and I don't think I can wait that long. That's one of my worst faults. I'm far too impatient and—  
  
"AND your tongue was hinged in the middle," Sally interrupted, clearing the cookie plates, "now drink your tea before it gets cold."  
  
Hannah drank her tea accordingly and started off again.  
  
"I just finished this wonderful story where this group of boys and girls go to bring an evil ring to destroy it in the fire of a mountain called Mount Doom, right in the middle of the evil Sauron's dark land. It was creepy. And there was a girl as the main character! That never happens in books that I read, except perhaps Little Women. The main character of this story was just like me, only probably taller and stronger and braver and—  
  
"had a little bit more common sense! You've just spilled the biscuits!" Sally picked up the now eleven-year-old from the chair and wiped up the extra cookies.  
  
"Now, now Sally, don't you know about stories? It's so often the case that boys are the heroes in adventures. I love a story with a heroine. I find them so much more interesting. Now I'm going to the Today Road as I've finished my tea. I wish you could come with me, but you have chores. I'd help you, but 'my soul has pastured with the stars, upon the meadowlands of space.' That's a sentence I read in a book once and I love it. The Today Road is the biggest garden in the middle and it's the happiest. It has all the biggest flowers and the path is twisting and delightful. I call it the Today Road because flowers there are the marigolds and they just look like a cup of sunshine. And then there's the Yesterday Road. That's the one on the eastern side. That one's a pretty little path fill with roses. It's the Yesterday Road because, well, if there was a Today and Tomorrow Road, why not a Yesterday Road and, well, the roses come back every year, so who knows how long they've been there. They've seen so many rains and snows and suns and moons that you could tell their whole history just by looking at their petals."  
  
"You've talked on for ten whole minutes. Now off you go to the Today Road, go on and come back before dark." Sally gave Hannah a little push down the steps.  
  
When Hannah had skipped down the lane a little bit, Sally had her laugh.  
  
"That girl is something else!"  
  
Finally, after many, many months of long waiting, Hannah was interrupted from her morning reverie by Sally, who had a letter in her hands. It was early August.  
  
Hannah looked up and gasped.  
  
"Oh, it's here! It's here!" she ripped open the envelope, no bothering to read the emerald green label on the front. She pulled out two sheets of parchment and excitedly began to read aloud:  
  
Dear Miss Rosenfeld,  
  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
  
Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than August 15.  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Minerva McGonagall  
  
"Oh, wow!" Hannah looked over the list of supplies. "This is so cool! What does it mean they 'await my owl'?" she peered over her letter to her mother across the table, who smiled.  
  
"That's our way of communicating, by owl. I have one actually, Pandora, but you've never met her. She's in the barn outside the side porch."  
  
"This just keeps getting better and better! No telephones at all? Just owls? Wow. I like that much better than telephones."  
  
She wrote a hurried reply, on which her mother signed and then Hannah ran off to the barn. She opened the old wooden door with a creak and stepped in. There was a fluttering of wings and a small figure perched on top of a stair railing in the corner that led to the loft. It had to be Pandora. She was a tawny brown owl and quite big. Her wins span seemed yards long. Hannah crept slowly towards her, whispering.  
  
"Don't be afraid Pandora. Hello, I'm Hannah. Nice to meet you. I've never met an owl before."  
  
Hannah reached out a hand to pet a feather and a claw snagged out.  
  
"Ow! No need to worry, Pandora, I'm your friend. I'm Jennie Rosenfeld's daughter, you know, your mum! I just want to send a nice little letter off to…Hogwarts!" she glanced down at the address written neatly on the envelope and back up at the owl. It hesitated a moment, then stuck out its leg. Mum had told Hannah to tie the letter on to the leg and then set it off. Hannah did just so and the owl flew up towards the ceiling and through a little hole in the rafters.  
  
"YES!" Hannah jumped up and down, "And I'm off to Hogwarts!" 


	4. Chapter four

Chapter Four  
  
"Miss Hannah, wake up. It's time to leave. Your breakfast is on the side table by your desk."  
  
Sally shook Hannah awake. Hannah opened her eyes, hesitated as if thinking, then sprang up.  
  
"I thought today would never come!" she shouted and ran to the table, grabbed a piece of toast and marmalade and hastened to get clothes on.  
  
"Your mum has business elsewhere today so Sally is going to take you."  
  
"She does?" Hannah stopped suddenly. "I mean no offense to you, Sally, but I really wanted Mum to take me to London."  
  
" I know, dear. Come hurry, our train leaves at 8: 30."  
  
In twenty minutes, Hannah was by the front door with a purse in one hand and sunglasses in the other. Sally looked at her blankly.  
  
"I thought we'd go in style." Hannah grinned.  
  
"No, dear, where we're going you won't need these muggle things."  
  
"What's muggle?"  
  
"Non-magic folk."  
  
"Oh…okay."  
  
Hannah dropped her things and raced out to the taxi. The long drive to London seemed to drag out immensely for Hannah, but she talked throughout the whole way.  
  
They reached London by lunchtime and hurried out of the station and down a cobbled street. They stopped in front of an old building labeled "The Leaky Cauldron."  
  
"This is where we're shopping?" Hannah asked in disbelief.  
  
"Well, not really. Come on." Sally led her through the bar and dusty tables to the back door. Hannah was very confused by now. Sally took out a wand and touched a brick on the back wall behind the building. The bricks pulled apart revealing a cobbled street and a sign that said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley."  
  
"Wow, that was incredible! Let's do it again!" Hannah pulled on Sally's hand.  
  
"No, we are very busy today. Maybe another day."  
  
"So are you a witch too Sally?"  
  
"Yes dear."  
  
"What's first on our list?"  
  
"First of all, we need to get you school robes at Madame Malkin's."  
  
They entered a shop to their right that was bustling with students. They waited in line to be measured. Madame Malkin was a short happy-looking lady who had a magic tape measure that measured by itself. Hannah was placed next to a boy with silver blond hair and sharp grey eyes.  
  
"Hello. Are you going to Hogwarts?"  
  
"Um, yeah." he sounded like this was obvious.  
  
"My name is Hannah. Hannah Rosenfeld."  
  
"Draco Malfoy."  
  
"That's a funny name."  
  
"Oh, you think so little girl? And how old are you, five, six?"  
  
Hannah's eyes darkened as her arm was pulled up through a sleeve of her robe.  
  
"For your information, I'm eleven and I'm going to Hogwarts this year."  
  
"For someone so short, you outta to be grateful."  
  
"What on earth do you mean?"  
  
"I mean that there are really scary things at Hogwarts. Big monsters and ghosts and moving staircases and moving pictures and—  
  
"I'm not afraid of them, Mr.—what did you say your name was?"  
  
The boy turned away. Hannah was yanked off the stand and robes were thrown in her arms. She heard Sally calling. Hannah turned back to the boy and yelled,  
  
"And I'm not afraid of you either!"  
  
The room silenced. Hannah looked around uncomfortably.  
  
"Well I'm not," she said timidly.  
  
"Come on, Hannah." Sally pulled her out of the shop and took her aside.  
  
"Anymore of this behavior and you won't go to that school at all, you hear me?"  
  
"Of course Sally. I was just defending myself."  
  
Sally stifled a giggle and walked on. The afternoon went fast and soon they were walking out of the pub from having supper, carrying all kinds of funny- shaped packages.  
  
They got home late and Hannah was sleeping in Sally's arms.  
  
************************************  
  
"Go on, just march through the wall."  
  
"It looks so solid."  
  
"It's not, believe me, it's not. Just run through it. I'll be right behind you."  
  
Hannah was standing in the front of the barrier between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross Station with her mother.  
  
"Come on, you have ten minutes before the train leaves."  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm going."  
  
Hannah gripped her trolley and began pushing it forwards towards the wall. She closed her eyes, she knew that wall was just going to hit and then she'd go flying. But nothing happened. She kept running. Her mother appeared seconds later by her side.  
  
"See there it is. Hogwarts Express. You did it. Now was it that hard?"  
  
"No. Come on, I want to get on the train."  
  
The station was long and students were crowding all along it. Hannah could barely move.  
  
"Bye, Mum. I'll send you lots of owls!"  
  
"Good bye dear one! Have a fun time!" her mother embraced her warmly and kissed her forehead. Hannah gave Mrs. Rosenfeld a smile and walked towards the train, heaving her trunks up the stairs. Hannah pushed her way through to an empty compartment and threw herself on the plushy seats. She waved to her mother outside the window, who waved back rather sadly. Hannah sighed and began to daydream about what Hogwarts castle would look like and didn't even notice the train beginning to move.  
  
A few minutes later, the compartment door opened to a girl with bushy brown hair and big front teeth.  
  
"Excuse me, are these seats taken? Everywhere else is full."  
  
"Oh no, please sit." Hannah pushed her stuff over. The girl had a rather bossy tone of voice.  
  
"I'm Hannah Rosenfeld. Who are you?"  
  
"Hermione Granger. Pleased to meet you."  
  
Hannah held out a hand and Hermione shook it stiffly. Hannah leaned back, unsure about this girl.  
  
"So, um, excited about Hogwarts? I am. I hope I'm in Gryffindor. It sounds by far the best house. What house do you want to be in?"  
  
"Um, oh, the same house." Hannah shifted her weight, wondering what on earth Gryffindor was.  
  
"I've practicing some simple spells at home and this type of magic is fascinating." Hermione continued. "And I've studied the textbooks from cover to cover, of course."  
  
Hannah raised an eyebrow. She wasn't sure she liked this girl that much. She decided on a creative approach to see how far this girl's brain could go.  
  
"I was sad to leave the Tomorrow Road and the Today Road and the Yesterday Road. They are so lovely and I'm sure there won't be any like them at Hogwarts."  
  
"Hmm?" the girl looked at her, "What did you say?"  
  
"Oh, nothing." Hannah looked away annoyed. "Just talking about Hogwarts. I know all about it and I've read books about it from cover to cover."  
  
She glanced at Hermione out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't read anything at all about Hogwarts, but she was trying to get this snotty girl back.  
  
"Are you mocking me?"  
  
"What would you say I said yes?"  
  
"I'd…I'd leave!"  
  
"Oh. Well, then, yes!" Hannah cocked her head to one side. Hermione's mouth dropped. Leaving her stuff, Hermione left. Hannah sighed, rolling her eyes.  
  
"In Tomorrow, there won't be snotty girls like Hermione around."  
  
For the next hour, she amused herself with thinking up little poems for the flowers on the Today Road. The door opened again and this time Hermione was accompanied by a mouse-haired boy who seemed upset.  
  
"Hannah, isn't it?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Who wants to know?" Hannah turned to face them.  
  
"Neville here is looking for a toad, has it come in here?"  
  
"Not that I've noticed, but like I said, I've been practicing some simple spells so I can butter up to the teachers in class."  
  
Hermione turned away, slamming the door behind her. Hannah gave a quiet evil laugh.  
  
"My adventure has been begun," she said. 


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
"Firs' years! Firs' years this way!"  
  
Hannah looked up to the stomach of a huge man. He had a grizzly black beard and wild black hair, but his eyes twinkled down as he seemed to smile under the mass of hair.  
  
"Come on, little Missy, you can come this way! Hagrid's the name!"  
  
"Hannah!" She reached up to shake his hand and her arm was grasped in his fingers. She was led down a grassy, dark slope to the edge of a lake.  
  
"Four to a boat! Only four to a boat!" she heard Hagrid yell out from the fog and rain.  
  
It was night when they finally got off the train and rain started coming down. Hannah climbed into a little rowboat with three other people she couldn't really see. They rowed across the water in a huge group of little boats. They sailed under a tree and then she saw it; Hogwarts castle. It was magnificent. The tall dark towers rose high into the clouds it seemed and the windows let out a welcoming light. Hannah leaped out of her boat in excitement onto the rocky shore and clambered up the steps.  
  
Hagrid knocked on the heavy door and a tall, stiff woman opened the door.  
  
"The first years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said gruffly.  
  
"Very well, Hagrid, bring them in."  
  
Hannah shivered and jumped up and down, eager to see the inside. Slowly the door was pulled open and the group was led in.  
  
"Wow!" Hannah squealed. The ceiling was high, high, high and there was a huge staircase, curling up to other floors. There were double doors off to the right, where there were many voices echoing from inside.  
  
"Must be where the rest of the school is." Hannah thought aloud. But instead of going through those great double doors, they were brought into a smaller chamber on the left.  
  
"Aww," Hannah moaned. Professor McGonagall faced them.  
  
"Welcome to Hogwarts, children. In a few moments, you will be taken into the Great Hall and will be sorted into your houses. You will either be in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. Wait here for a few moments and I will come back for you."  
  
With that the professor left, and the group of nervous students were left to imagine what the sorting could possibly.  
  
"I bet you have to take some kind of test," said one boy, timidly.  
  
"My brother said it hurts a lot, but I think he was fooling."  
  
"Maybe you have to wrestle a troll or something."  
  
All of a sudden, about fifteen ghosts appeared out of the side wall. Some people screamed. Hannah gasped with awe. Everyone back towards the other wall, but the ghosts didn't seem to notice them. They were debating about someone. Hannah was so fascinated by these creatures that she walked up to one of them and introduced herself.  
  
"Hannah, ay?" said the ghost, "I'm the Fat Friar. Hope to see you in Hufflepuff. My old house you know."  
  
"Really? What's Hufflepuff like?" Hannah asked eagerly.  
  
The ghost was just about to answer when Professor McGonagall came back. The ghosts disappeared through the opposite wall.  
  
"Come on, get into a line and follow me." Hannah got behind a boy with black hair. She came up to his shoulders and although quite short, Hannah saw that he wore glasses.  
  
"Excuse me," she tapped him on the shoulder. The boy turned around from talking to his redhead friend and looked down at Hannah.  
  
"Hi, my name's Hannah. What's yours?"  
  
"Harry." he wiped his brow and brushed his bangs away, revealing a lightening-shaped scar on his forehead.  
  
"Wow. That scar is cool. How on earth did you get a cut like that?"  
  
"Um…"  
  
"Children! We are ready to begin the sorting. Remain in a line and please be quiet." Professor McGonagall had brought into the Great Hall without Hannah noticing. Now she looked and it was just as beautiful as the entrance hall was. It also had a high ceiling that had swirling grey clouds and drops were visible, but none fell. Hannah gaped at it.  
  
"It's enchanted to look like the sky outside," a voice said behind her. "I read it in Hogwarts, A History. But of course you already knew that didn't you, Hannah?"  
  
Hannah knew it was Hermione with the sarcastic voice and Hannah conveniently ignored her. Then another voice echoed throughout the hall, singing. Hannah stretched up trying to see and peeked through people's arms and saw that a hat was singing. Yes! A witch's hat was singing! Hannah's mouth dropped. When its song was ended, Professor McGonagall walked toward it and took out a list and began to call names.  
  
"Abbott, Hannah!" a girl with blond pigtails walked timidly up to the hat and put it on her head.  
  
"That's all we have to do?" Hannah asked herself, disappointed, "That's it? Try on a stupid old hat?"  
  
Professor McGonagall read down in alphabetical order.  
  
"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione nearly made Hannah fall in her attempt to get to the hat and slamming it on her head.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted. Hermione gleefully jumped off and ran to a table on the left end. Other students went. The boy in front of Hannah went.  
  
"Potter, Harry!" The hat yelled Gryffindor.  
  
"Oh, I hope I'm in Gryffindor!" Hannah whispered, "Even if Hermione is in it, I want to be in Gryffindor."  
  
Two girls and a boy went up and one went to Slytherin, and two to Ravenclaw.  
  
"Rosenfeld, Hannah!" Hannah skipped up to the hat and put it carefully on her head.  
  
"Hello, dear one." the hat said in her ear. She jumped, listening and thinking "Gryffindor, Gryffindor!"  
  
"Gryffindor? Hmm, you have plenty of potential for bravery young lady and a spanking good imagination if I don't say so myself!" Hannah giggled inwardly.  
  
"Yes, then GRYFFINDOR!" Hannah's mouth dropped yet again and she hopped off the stool on which the hat was and ran to the table where Harry and Hermione had run to.  
  
She sat down breathlessly, all smiles and watched the rest of the sorting. The red head that Harry was talking to was Ronald Weasley. He went up, his face as red as his hair and made Gryffindor. A whole group of other red heads jumped up and yelled and clapped. They must be his brothers, Hannah thought, my, he has a lot of brothers. I wish I had a brother.  
  
The feast began with the magical appearance of the food on the plates and astonished Hannah, feeling as though nothing could surprise her in this place, dug into the delicious food.  
  
*******  
  
After the feast, one of the red head boys, the oldest, Hannah suspected, called the first years to attention. He brought them in a line out of the Great Hall and up the stairs in the entrance hall. They wound through hallways, climbed past tapestries and up hidden staircases until they reached a painting with a picture of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.  
  
"Password," she said, as silkily as her dress.  
  
"Lemon drop," the boy answered and waited as the picture frame swung open to reveal an opening. He went through and led them into a circular room with a huge fireplace in the center and lots of red comfortable looking armchairs. Hannah sighed at the peacefulness of it.  
  
"I'm Percy Weasley," the boy began, "and I'm one of the Gryffindor prefects. This room is called the common room. This is where you'll do homework, meet new people and just hang out. The boys' rooms are to the left and the girls on the right. Your things have already been brought up to your beds. Sleep well!"  
  
Hannah followed the other girls up the right staircase to the first door which was labeled "First Years." She stepped and gasped. This room was also circular and had four canopy beds draped in scarlet. Hannah's suitcases sat open with her clothes laid out and a nightgown ready on her bed. She climbed up on the bed and fell onto her back against the pillows.  
  
"Ahh, I think I'm gonna like it here," she sighed then sat up, threw her nightgown on and fell into a deep sleep. 


	6. Chapter Six

- A/N – I know, it's cliché, but what can I say? Hannah is so cute and I love writing this. I love writing about a kick-a** character. This chapter explains that. Because of her courage, I had to put her in Gryffindor even with the exception of her Slytherin-like sarcasm. So here goes…  
  
Chapter Six  
  
Hannah's eyes fluttered open.  
  
"Oh, yes it's morning!" she leaped out of bed and ran to the open window. It was sunshiny morning and there was not a cloud in the sky.  
  
"It's a sign," she sighed, gazing at the magnificent towers against the ethereal blue.  
  
She put on her black Hogwarts robes and left before anyone was awake. Checking her watch, she saw it only 7 A.M.  
  
"Oh, well, more time to explore." She shrugged and crept into the common room. There were shelves and shelves of books along the walls and Hannah gleefully picked one off the shelf. She expected Great Expectations or Hamlet, but the book she drew was called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.  
  
Intrigued, she flipped through the book and spent the next hour reading wonderingly about Mackled Malaclaws and demiguises, unicorns and snidgets and before she knew it everyone was passing her to the Great Hall for breakfast. She hopped up, throwing the book on the chair.  
  
In the Great Hall, Hannah sat in her usual morning reverie with her chin propped in her hand and her elbow on the table. She began murmuring Shakespeare unconsciously.  
  
"Let me not to the marriage of true minds,  
  
Admit impediments  
  
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,  
  
Or bends with the remover to remove.  
  
Oh no—  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
Hannah shook her head softly and turned her brown eyes on a girl with dark skin and dark hair.  
  
"Oh, um, nothing."  
  
"Lavender."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"No, I'm Lavender. Lavender Brown."  
  
Kicking herself mentally, Hannah shook hands, introducing herself.  
  
"I've heard of you. Hermione's got a lot to say about you."  
  
"What is she saying?" Hannah's brown eyes got more brown and darker.  
  
"You wouldn't want to know."  
  
"Yes I would. Tell me." Hannah's cheeks blushed a deep crimson.  
  
"Well, she said you were a bossy know-it-all."  
  
"Speak for yourself." Hannah muttered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing. What else?"  
  
"That you talk to yourself and you come up with the strangest things like the Tomorrow Road or something."  
  
"The Tomorrow Road is not strange. It's beautiful. But I cannot deny that I do talk to myself sometimes, when I have nobody else to talk to."  
  
Lavender seemed a little surprised at this weird muggle girl and turned away to talk to Parvati.  
  
Hannah narrowed her eyes and returned to her cereal. All of a sudden a fluttering of wings came from the ceiling. Hannah looked up and gasped.  
  
"Mail's here!" one of the Weasley brothers shouted. Probably hundreds of owls flew into the hall carrying letters, newspapers and packages.  
  
"That's incredible!" Hannah said. Then she noticed a large tawny owl fly its way down towards her, dropping a little package to her, then perching on the brim of one of the bowls of fruit, dipping her beak in.  
  
Excitedly, Hannah ripped off the paper. Inside there was a small round ball, clear as crystal. There was note beside it.  
  
"Dearest Hannah, (it read)  
  
I know you have a habit of forgetting things. This object is called a Remembrall. When you've forgotten something, it glows red. I find it very handy when I go shopping in Diagon Alley. It's small enough, I believe to fit in your pocket or simply in the palm of your hand.  
  
Sally and I miss you very much. Like you asked, the peonies are blossoming nicely on the Tomorrow Road and the roses on the Yesterday Road have never looked prettier. I go through there every night and think of you, hoping you're having a good time at your new school. Have fun and be safe and don't forget to write to  
  
Your mother"  
  
Hannah smiled at the note and looked back at the Remembrall. She took it in her hand and red smoke appeared in it.  
  
"Uh, oh." Trying to remember what she had forgotten, a hand snatched the Remembrall away. She whirled around and saw the Malfoy kid she had met in Madame Malkin's shop.  
  
"Having fun?" he asked, a smirk on his face.  
  
"Oh, lots of fun…till you arrived." Hannah tried to grab the ball back, which was still glowing scarlet.  
  
"And what's this you've got here?" he held up the Remembrall.  
  
"It's a Remembrall AND it's mine!" she reached for it again. He pulled away and then gave it to her.  
  
"Okay, okay, chill." he walked away. Hannah exhaled and finished her breakfast with a hurry.  
  
~**~  
  
"This class will not be using silly waving of wands and such. In potions, you will learn to control the mind and ensnare the senses, maybe even put a stopper in death." Professor Snape said slowly, circling his desk. "Though ones who choose to daydream, Miss Rosenfeld!"  
  
Hannah snapped back to attention from imagining what it would be like to control someone's mind with a sip of a potion.  
  
"S-sorry," she whispered.  
  
"Better pay attention, miss, or you will not find this an easy class."  
  
"I was paying attention, sir."  
  
"Excuse me?" Snape twisted around from beginning to write on the blackboard.  
  
"I said I was paying attention. I was imagining what it would be like to control someone and to manipulate them however you want."  
  
"Indeed, Miss Rosenfeld. Do you think you are above rules and regulations by going on about what is in that brain of yours?"  
  
"Not at all. You're misunderstanding me completely—  
  
"—Oh am I?" Snape interrupted. "We're missing valuable class time over you, now please keep your mouth shut or I will resort to taking points off Gryffindor!"  
  
"Sorry, sir." There was giggle from the front and Hannah glared at Hermione's bushy head. She made a face at Hermione, which Snape mistakenly took it for him.  
  
"MISS Rosenfeld!" Snape yelled and Hannah jumped, "Five points from Gryffindor for your cheek."  
  
Hannah's mouth dropped in shock.  
  
"But that's not fair!" she said back. There was a silence in the room and everyone seemed to be holding their breath.  
  
"Miss Rosenfeld, if you intend to stay in this class, you'd better start acting like a student of I will be forced to give you a detention on the very first day!"  
  
Hannah gulped and raised her eyebrows, sinking low in her seat. The rest of the class she did not speak a word.  
  
~**~  
  
"Flying lessons!" Hannah exclaimed, hurrying with her book bag out of lunch, "the quidditch pitch. What on earth is quidditch?"  
  
"You don't know what quidditch is?" Harry's red head friend appeared on the side of her, "What kind of witch are you?"  
  
"Um, I didn't know I was a witch until a few months ago. I don't anything about wizards at all."  
  
"You have a lot of catching up to do, if you don't even know what quidditch is."  
  
"Thanks for the friendly advice." Hannah rolled her eyes. They were joined by Harry halfway across the grounds. The quidditch pitch was huge and oval- shaped. Stands were positioned on all sides, except for the opening they entered through.  
  
Madame Hooch, the flying teacher, quickly set them beside brooms and told to hold their right hand over the broom and say UP! really loud.  
  
"UP!" Hannah shouted, but her broom just rolled over. Hermione, next to her, was trying the same thing and the broom just quivered a bit.  
  
"UP! You stupid broom!" Hannah yelled at it, but it didn't move. Frustrated, she picked it up herself and swung her leg over it, waiting.  
  
Then, Professor McGonagall walked over to Madame Hooch, talking privately. Madame Hooch nodded, then said to the class,  
  
"I have to leave for a moment, but if any of you get on your brooms, you'll be out of here before you can say, 'quidditch'."  
  
With that, she left. Hannah watched them disappear and eagerly rose above the ground a bit and came back down.  
  
"Whoa, that was cool! I'm doing that again!" Hannah rose up higher.  
  
"Hannah, get down! You'll get us all in trouble! You already have today!" Hermione's voice echoed from the ground.  
  
"Who cares?"  
  
"Do you want to get kicked out?" Hermione shouted back. Hannah did a wild turn and settled to the ground.  
  
"That was so exhilarating! The whoosh, the wind, the swoop!" Hermione raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Hey, look what I have. Your little Remembrall, Hannah."  
  
"Malfoy, give it here!" Harry stepped forward before Hannah had time to speak. Angry, she walked in front of Harry and held out a hand.  
  
"Give it to me by the count of three, Malfoy. One…two—  
  
"No, I think I'll take somewhere for you to find. Like up here!" Malfoy jumped on his broom and soared high towards the stands, circling above them. Hannah grabbed her broom but Harry was up there faster.  
  
"Give it here Malfoy!" he yelled from the air. Hannah raised her eyebrows, but stayed on the ground.  
  
"You want it, come and get it then!" Malfoy threw it up about thirty feet. Hannah watched Harry as he kept his eye on the falling Remembrall. He zoomed towards it and caught it, right before toppling onto the soft ground. Hannah's mouth dropped.  
  
"HARRY POTTER!" Professor McGonagall was walking swiftly up the slope.  
  
"Come with me, Potter," she said and they disappeared behind the wall. Hannah bit her lip.  
  
"Oops." she muttered.  
  
"Aren't you going to tell her it was your fault?" Hermione came up to her.  
  
"It wasn't my fault!"  
  
"Yes, it was. You didn't have to let Harry get the blame for flying when you were flying yourself and he was only flying out of good deed at least."  
  
"Oh, go away." Hannah turned away. Maybe Hogwarts wasn't as much fun as she thought.  
  
For the next few days, things didn't improve. Hannah was so different from the others that nobody took her small, imaginative self for weakness.  
  
One afternoon, after lunch, when classes were finished, Hannah decided to take a walk around the lake. It was hot and muggy for September, so she wanted to cool off. As she stepped down onto the grass, a ball rolled by her feet. It was little and soft. She picked it up, looking around to see who had thrown it. Ron and Harry were playing catch with Ron's brothers. Eagerly, she shouted at them.  
  
"Can I play?"  
  
The brothers looked at the small girl and then at each other. She saw one of the taller ones shake their heads.  
  
"Um, We already started and besides you might get hurt."  
  
"I won't get hurt!" she shouted back.  
  
"Yeah, but…you're…uh…a girl." Ron's voice faded away. Hannah's anger came back in a whoosh. She dropped her things and threw that special curve ball Melanie had taught her years ago when they had decided to play catch in Mrs. Foster's backyard. Ron caught it hard in his hand in shock. He dropped the ball and massaged his wrist.  
  
Hannah came marching over, thinking all those summers of learning to throw definitely paid off. It was revenge time. She faced Ron, coming up to his chest. She looked up to his face defiantly.  
  
"Don't you ever call me a girl! Ever!" Ron's eyes widened. One of the older boys chuckled and said, "You heard her Ronnie-boy. Come on, let her play!"  
  
"O-okay." he stuttered staring at Hannah in amazement.  
  
"Thank you," she said and pulled up her robe sleeves. 


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
They finished at sunset when Professor McGonagall scolded them for being late for dinner. Hannah panted her way up the stairs. She had been teaching the boys how she threw that curve ball and she had to do a lot of running. Ron and Harry ran up to her on the stone steps.  
  
"Hey, that was, um, really great. We misjudged you, maybe we could continue this game tomorrow as it's Saturday." Ron shook her hand and apologized.  
  
"Yeah," Harry added, "I still need work on my throw. You are some player, Hannah."  
  
"Thanks." Hannah smiled and gave him a playful punch in the arm. She would not be taken for a sissy. "Wait till I teach you fencing, then you'd better watch out."  
  
They laughed and entered the Great Hall. Everyone was already sitting and eating.  
  
"Made friends with the boys, ay?" Hermione asked as Hannah sat down in between her and Ron. Hannah was in too much of a good mood to be mean to Hermione.  
  
"Good evening, Hermione. Did you have a nice day?"  
  
"Um, yes."  
  
"That's good. And yes, I have befriended the boys. It's really nice actually to have friends that aren't your gender sometimes. I grew up around girls and, well, it's just different. They have feelings too, you know."  
  
"Doesn't seem like it." Hermione rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah," Hannah giggled, "They do have feelings, but they just don't want to show them because they think it'll make them feel silly. Us girls don't have a problem with that, do we?"  
  
"I guess not." Hannah could tell Hermione was a little confused with Hannah's behavior and Hannah was enjoying herself, being nice to Hermione. With the absence of Melanie, she needed someone female to discuss things. But she realized she had some apologizing to do herself.  
  
"Look, Hermione, I'm really sorry about my behavior on the train ride. I was acting stupid. I judged you before I got to know you. You are really very smart and I hope to know even better." Hermione's mouth opened a little then closed. Then opened it again.  
  
"I'm sorry too. You aren't really a bossy know-it-all. And don't apologize, I was being just as bossy as I thought you were. I deserved it."  
  
"Oh, that's great!" Hannah sighed, then said quickly, "Not about you being bossy, but now I have an ally against the forces of evil."  
  
"The forces of evil?"  
  
"Malfoy." Hannah stuck her thumb over her shoulder towards the Slytherin table.  
  
"Oh." Hermione gave the first smile Hannah had seen from her. Hannah smiled back. It felt good to have a friend at last.  
  
But she soon realized that even if they were friends, they were entirely different people. Hannah lived for adventure and mischief and imagining, while Hermione lived for books and discovering things and learning. There was an exception. Both girls did read very often, too often thought Harry and Ron, and since they were both muggles at first, they were fascinated with magic and spent hours poring over the textbooks.  
  
Hermione wasn't friends with Ron and Harry yet and Hannah couldn't convince her. Hermione thought the boys were lazy and sarcastic, well…Ron anyway. Harry seemed a little nicer, but he was friends with Ron, so the cynical attitude sometimes rubbed off.  
  
One day, Hannah and Hermione were reading books, as usual, in the library, when Hannah suddenly paused.  
  
"Hermione?" she turned towards the girl sitting cross-legged on one of the armchairs.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Who's Voldemort?" she spelled out the name slowly from the book she reading. Hermione covered her mouth and arched her eyebrows in surprise.  
  
"What?" Hermione still wouldn't say anything, so Hannah turned to the boy next to her.  
  
"Neville, who's Voldemort?"  
  
"Hey, don't say the name!" Hannah gave a confused look and stood up.  
  
"Does anyone know who Voldemort is?" she shouted. Hermione clapped a hand on her forehead. Everyone gasped.  
  
"What's wrong with this guy? Is he some scary creature of the forest of something?"  
  
A hand covered her mouth and yanked her backwards into the hall. She was slammed into the wall. It was Harry.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, shocked.  
  
"Why is everyone getting all upset? Who is Voldemort anyway?"  
  
Harry hesitated, then said, "Come on, I'll tell you."  
  
He brought her to the Gryffindor common room. Luckily, it was pretty empty.  
  
"Who's Voldemort?" she repeated, annoyed.  
  
"Voldemort was this evil wizard who went really bad and resorted to Dark magic. You know, that's why we have our Defense Against the Dark Arts class."  
  
"Yeah, go on."  
  
"So, this wizard hunted out people, trying to make them follow him and they repented, he killed him."  
  
Hannah gasped, "Is he around here?"  
  
"Well, that's the interesting part. Ya see, he, um, also killed my parents."  
  
Hannah opened her mouth slightly.  
  
"And he was about to kill me, when…he couldn't. Most wizards say I'm the one that defeated the Dark Lord."  
  
Hannah laughed aloud.  
  
"No way! You're kidding! You have to be kidding me!"  
  
"Well, I was a baby then and I don't really remember it. No one knows how I stopped him and vanquished his powers. I guess it'll remain a mystery, but now rumors are that he still alive, scraping around looking for someone to take him over. I don't think he's coming back anytime soon though."  
  
"Wow," Hannah said, after a few seconds of silence. "I guess I was pretty stupid to say his name in front of everyone like that."  
  
"Well, I don't know. Dumbledore was the only one that Voldemort was afraid of."  
  
"Really?" Hannah thought of the old Hogwarts headmaster and did not wonder why Voldemort was afraid of him. Albus Dumbledore gave such an aura of power and wisdom and kindness to everyone that he surrounded. Hannah sighed.  
  
"That's one story." she breathed. Harry nodded.  
  
"Oh, it's lunchtime!" she said, looking at her watch. "Good, I'm starving!"  
  
But that moment on, she was a little more careful about what she said in public.  
  
~**~  
  
It was October. Hannah wondered drearily what the garden roads were looking like now. They were probably all golden and splendor, with little flecks of scarlet and blue. The marigolds would be in full bloom all radiant in their orange and yellow blossoms on the Today Road. At Hogwarts though, the grounds were emerald green against the azure blue of the sky. Hannah always loved the sky in autumn. It was so much more vibrant than any other season. Her new friends had learned that at twilight she became a whole different Hannah and she'd go on one of her rambles around the lake. They knew that it would be better to leave her alone when she entered the Twilight Zone.  
  
On one particular evening, she was on the opposite side of the lake and had walked on until the moon had rose. It was a crescent moon and looked all silver against the blaze of glistening stars.  
  
" 'Over the mountains of the moon, down the valley of the shadows'," Hannah murmured, gazing up at the black sky. It had to be late now and she would be in deep trouble if she was caught outside past bedtime hours. She hoped Hermione wasn't worrying. But then Hermione was probably still in the common room, studying for a particular Charms quiz they were getting tomorrow.  
  
Hannah made her way around again, taking another hour out of the night, and then tiptoed up the steps to the front doors and pulled open the doors.  
  
"I didn't know I stayed out so late. I wonder what time it is." She had forgotten her watch in her bedroom. Creeping up the grand staircase, she thought she heard some movement at the top. Holding her breath, she edged up the railing, grasping the side.  
  
When she reached the top and turned the corner, the "movement" materialized. She clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. There were two tall figures in black. One had tousled hair and the outline of glasses, the other was taller and lighter hair.  
  
"Oh, it's just you Harry and Ron…oh, Hermione I didn't know you were here too!" Hannah hissed. Hermione looked particularly grumpy. She folded her arms and nodded her head at the two boys.  
  
"They're sneaking out. I tried to stop them, and I got locked out because the fat lady is out at the moment."  
  
Harry and Ron exhaled in a loud 'tuh!'  
  
"She wouldn't stop complaining about how we're gonna lose points for Gryffindor if we go out, but our business is our own."  
  
"Well, what are you doing?"  
  
Harry sighed, "Malfoy threatened us at breakfast this morning. You two weren't there; you were in the library. Well, I got my broom for quidditch and—  
  
"You're on the quidditch team!?"  
  
"SSHH!" Ron hissed, we don't want to be found." Hannah looked back at Harry in disbelief.  
  
"Well, the day I caught your Remembrall, Professor McGonagall brought to the team captain, Oliver Wood, and I've been made Seeker."  
  
"What's a seeker?"  
  
"No time for quidditch questions. We promised Malfoy we'd be in the trophy room right about now."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"He sort of challenged us to a wizard's duel." Harry said, guiltily.  
  
"And I'm his second." Ron drew himself up importantly.  
  
"You're in a wizard's duel?" Hannah asked in shock. Hermione looked triumphant at knowing she was right.  
  
"Without me?" Hannah continued. Hermione looked at her, with her jaw to the floor.  
  
"Um, sorry?"  
  
"It's okay, let's get you there. It's another adventure. Come on, where's the trophy room?"  
  
"To the left! To the left!"  
  
They creaked open the door to the trophy room, which was filled with trophies of course and all kinds of medals and awards of gold and silver. They hid behind a large case and waited for any sign of movement, Hermione 'tsking' at them.  
  
All of a sudden, there was a sound from the right door.  
  
"It's Malfoy and Crabbe!"  
  
"Crabbe?"  
  
"His second!"  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Come, my sweet, someone's out of bed and we're gonna find them."  
  
"It's Filch and his cat!" Harry hissed. They waited for more noise, and heard the two come in through the opposite door.  
  
"Come on, let's make a run for it!" Hannah beckoned to them. They followed her out the nearest door and started sprinting down the corridor.  
  
"Hurry!"  
  
Hannah could hear the custodian's voice behind them. She wrinkled her brow, searching for a place to hide. She saw a door on the left.  
  
"Come on, we'll hide in here!" she grabbed the handle. "Oh, darn, it's locked!"  
  
"Move over!" Hermione pushed through with her wand out, impatient, "Alohomora!"  
  
The door unlocked and they ran in, slamming the door behind them, ears against the wood. They heard Filch whisper gleefully about what he'd do when he caught them. His voice passed by and for a few moments there was silence.  
  
"Whew!" Hannah leaned against the door, panting. "That was close! I wonder why this door was locked."  
  
"Believe me, it was for a good reason." Ron said. Hannah turned around and yelled out. In front of them, drooling and growling was a dog with three heads. Its sharp teeth glistened in the moonlight that pored in from the window and all six of its eyes were upon the four children. They all screamed and flew open the door, running wildly out, slamming the door behind them.  
  
Somehow, they made it to the fat lady painting, all sweaty and gasping.  
  
"My, where have you four been?" the fat lady asked, sweetly.  
  
"L-lemon drop, lemon drop," Harry wheezed out. They climbed in the common room warily and dropped into the chairs in front of the fire.  
  
"What do they think they're doing? Keeping a thing like that in Hogwarts, that's crazy!" Ron exclaimed, scratching his head.  
  
"I dunno." Harry said.  
  
"Well, I'm going to bed before either of you think up another clever idea to get us killed or worse expelled! Come on Hannah!"  
  
Hermione grabbed Hannah's arm and pulled up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. But Hannah couldn't help thinking that her long-wanted adventure was really starting to heat up. 


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
"Oh, jeez, Hermione, can't you just cut them some slack?"  
  
"No. Ron is just so ignorant to his studies, it's no wonder he's failing so far."  
  
"They aren't so bad and Harry is not as sarcastic as Ron."  
  
"But still, when they're together…" she scowled, shaking her head.  
  
Hannah shook hers as well, as they were heading to their Charms quiz right before dinner hour on Halloween. Harry and Ron luckily weren't there yet to hear their conversation.  
  
The Charms class was taught by a tiny little wizard named Professor Flitwick. He was the only person shorter than Hannah. He had to sit on a pile of books to see his class over his desk. Today, they were doing the Levitating Charm.  
  
Hannah and Hermione got seats in the front. Harry and Ron soon joined them, sitting beside Hannah because Hermione wasn't on speaking terms with them at the moment. They had been tossing dungbombs all during Transfiguration class and wouldn't concentrate on their studies. Hermione had gotten frustrated and stopped speaking to the boys. Ron whispered to Hannah that it was an improvement.  
  
"All right boys and girls! Get out your wands, it's time to practice our Wingardium Leviosa's! Now remember the swish and flick, we've been doing. Swish and flick! Go on now."  
  
Harry was teamed with Hannah and Ron was unhappily partnered with Hermione. Hannah turned to Harry, putting a feather down on the desk.  
  
"Ready? At the same time, one, two, three! Wingardium Leviosa!"  
  
Both wands pointed at the feather and it exploded. Covered in soot, Hannah bit her lip.  
  
"Maybe we should have done it one at a time." she coughed.  
  
"We're going to need another feather here, professor," Harry said gaping at the remains of the old one.  
  
Meanwhile, Ron was getting frustrated with Hermione.  
  
"No, no, it's swish and flick! Remember, now, swish and flick, with your wand!"  
  
Ron flung down his wand in frustration.  
  
"You try it then if you're so clever!"  
  
"Fine." Hermione rolled up her sleeves, "Wingardium Leviosa!"  
  
Their feather rose slowly up above Hermione's head about four feet.  
  
"Oh, yes, look everyone, Miss Granger has done it!"  
  
Ron sank sulkily down in his chair for the rest of the class.  
  
When the bell rang, Hannah followed Harry and Ron to dinner. Hermione followed behind, preferring to be away from the boys.  
  
"It's Wingardium Leviosa! No, Ron put your wand this way! Swish and flick!" Ron mocked disgusted. "She's a nightmare, honestly. It's amazing she even has a friend!"  
  
Someone pushed past Ron, their hands over their face. It was Hermione.  
  
"Oh, now look what you've done!" Hannah cried at Ron. She ran after Hermione, yelling out her name.  
  
"Hermione! Hermione, come back!" Hannah followed her into the girls' bathroom. She heard the door slam on one of the stalls. Running in, she called Hermione's name again.  
  
"Go away!" she heard a moan.  
  
"Hermione, I'm not leaving till we work this out. Come on."  
  
"No, I'm not coming out and I DON'T want to talk about it."  
  
"Well, then I'm coming in to you."  
  
Hannah crawled under the stall door and sat cross-legged on the floor. Hermione was sitting on the toilet seat, sobbing.  
  
"Are you gonna be alright?"  
  
"NO!" Hermione burst out, "I hate guys! They are so immature!"  
  
"I know, I know. They don't know any better. But I'm sure Ron just said something in the heat of the moment. I'm sure he didn't mean it."  
  
"Oh, yes, he did. He can't stand me. He thinks I'm just the bossy, know-it- all who sits in the front seat and answers every question the teacher asked."  
  
"Well, no offense, Hermione, but you do tend to do that."  
  
Hermione sobbed even harder. Hannah sighed.  
  
"Come here, I'm sorry, come sit by me, come on. You have to spill, this can't be the only thing bothering you."  
  
Hermione hesitated, then slid down to the floor and Hannah put a comforting arm around the girl's trembling shoulders. There was a pause, then Hermione spoke.  
  
"You know, no one sees me for all I really am, they just see me as books and rules and following regulations and being on time. They don't really know who I am. I'm fed up with it. And boys are the worst. They seem to rub it in when they see this really smart perfect-grades girl. They think they can take advantage of her. I'm sick of them."  
  
"I know how you feel. Even girls sometimes. My friend Melanie was always rubbing it in that I read too many books and that I was too smart. I never really understood why she did it."  
  
"I just feel so…so different from everyone else."  
  
"Oh, Hermione. Who cares what other people think? You are just perfect being who you are."  
  
"No I'm not." Hermione began sobbing again. Her forehead lay on Hannah's shoulder and they sat like that for a long time.  
  
Hannah didn't know what time it was. Hermione had fallen asleep on her shoulder. In actuality, it had been the course of a half-hour, but to Hannah it seemed like hours. It was completely silent in the bathroom. Too silent for that matter. Hannah barely drew a breath for fear it would break the silence and something would happen.  
  
Then something did happen. Hannah's nose wrinkled as a fowl smell reached it.  
  
"Aw, was that you Hermione?" she discovered how wrong she was when she heard heavy footsteps in the hallway, coming towards the door. Hannah held her breath even more, staring at the stall door, waiting for the bathroom door to creak open.  
  
The fowl smell got stronger and stronger and then the door creaked open and Hannah saw two large bumpy green feet wonder in. There was a heavy breathing to go with the heavy footsteps. Hannah gulped and shook Hermione awake.  
  
"Her-Hermione? I think you should wake up now." Hannah said, perhaps a little too loud. There was a swish as if a window was open and the wind was pouring in, and something hard came smashing over the wooden stalls. Hannah and Hermione screamed and looked up under the rubble.  
  
Above them was a troll, a huge troll that stood about eight feet tall and very wide. It had a long club in its hand that it dragged on the floor. Stupidly, it swung the club again. The girls ducked and crawled towards the sinks.  
  
"Oh, God!" Hannah muttered, as the pieces of wood came flying. Hermione seemed to be in hysterics.  
  
Then the door opened again. Hannah dared not look; it was probably the troll's partner coming to help the other. But she couldn't help it; she needed to know.  
  
Hannah slowly lifted her head from between her knees and saw two boys one with red hair and one with black.  
  
"Harry! Ron!" she screamed, covering Hermione with her arms. They were throwing fragments of wood at the troll.  
  
"Oy, pea brain!" Ron shouted, but the troll took no notice, it was still looking for the girls. Covered in dust, Hannah tried to move, but had to duck again as the club swung at the sinks and water spurted out of one of the pipes. Hannah grabbed Hermione's hand and crawled under the sinks towards the boys, but was trapped by a pile of fallen rubble.  
  
Hannah watched with horror as Harry leaped onto the blundering troll. The troll wouldn't have noticed if Harry's wand hadn't gone into the troll's nose. Hannah gagged.  
  
"Eeww!" Hermione cried. The troll swung around angrily, tumbling over its feet. It grabbed Harry off its shoulders and caught him by his feet up side down. The troll kept trying to hit him with the club, but kept missing.  
  
"Good thing trolls are stupid." Hannah clenched her eyes and teeth.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione screamed, "Do something!"  
  
"What?" he cried back, bewildered.  
  
"Anything!" Hermione yelled.  
  
Ron raised his wand and yelled the first thing that came into his head, "Wingardium Leviosa!"  
  
The troll's club came out of the troll's hand and rose above the troll. Then it dropped and hit with a sickening crunch on the troll's head.  
  
The troll dropped Harry and Harry lay sprawled on the floor. The troll tripped over its feet, walking dizzily around until it collapsed on the floor beside Harry.  
  
Harry slowly got up and pulled his wand from the troll's nose.  
  
"Ecchh, troll boogers." He wiped it on the monster's shirt. There was a pause and Hannah helped Hermione up from under the sinks, soaked from the broken pipe and dusty from the wood.  
  
There was a rush of feet and Professors McGonagall, Quirrel, and Snape entered the room.  
  
Professor McGonagall gasped.  
  
"Oh, my, what are you doing? Please explain yourselves!" she demanded.  
  
"Um—well," Harry and Ron stammered.  
  
"It was my fault," Hermione stood up, leaving Hannah behind, "I went looking for the troll because I thought I could fight it, as I've read all about them."  
  
"Foolish girl! That's incredibly dangerous!"  
  
"And then, the boys came and rescued me along with Hannah here."  
  
"Well, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your lack of judgement, Miss Granger, but for your rescuers, I suppose it must have a job to tackle a mountain troll for only three first years. Five points each awarded to Gryffindor…for sheer dumb luck."  
  
Professor McGonagall brought them back to the common room. When they reached the armchairs, Hermione faced Harry and Ron. They were looking uncomfortably at her. Softly, they all said, "Thanks."  
  
"Finally," Hannah sighed, rolling her eyes. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine  
  
"So who's this guy again?"  
  
"He's the one who brought us to the castle on that first night remember?"  
  
"Oh, yeah! He's the really big and really tall one, right?"  
  
"Yeah, come on."  
  
The four companions headed towards the little hut by the Forbidden Forest past the quidditch field, to where Rubeus Hagrid, the keeper of the grounds at Hogwarts, lived. Harry knocked on the tall wooden door. An explosion of barking erupted inside the house. Hannah jumped.  
  
"Don't worry, Hagrid's got a dog. His name is Fang and, like Hagrid, he's not as fearsome as he looks."  
  
"Oh, no problem, after that three headed dog, I don't think anything could scare me." Hannah replied.  
  
After the barks had subsided, the door opened a crack and a snout sniffed out of it.  
  
"Come here, Fang, come on." Hannah heard a voice say. The door opened wider to a bulk of a man. He smiled down at them through his wild black beard and bade them come in.  
  
Hannah was led to a huge wooden table. Looking around, she saw a wide bed with a quilt spread on top and there was a roaring fire in the grate across from the bed. Hannah climbed on to one of the chairs and the table came to her chin.  
  
"Um, Hagrid?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I need a boost."  
  
"Oh, sorry, not used to little visitors like yerself."  
  
Hannah didn't know whether to take this as a compliment, but simply sat up as Hagrid slid a pillow onto the chair.  
  
"Ah that's better." She looked around at Harry, Ron and Hermione.  
  
"I'll go make some tea and bring out some o'my homemade cauldron cakes."  
  
Hannah licked her lips, but Harry and Ron glanced at each other. Hermione looked confusedly at the boys, for she had never been to Hagrid's yet either.  
  
A few minutes later, Hagrid came back with mugs of hot tea and a plate of cauldron cakes.  
  
"Oops, forgot the milk, hold on a sec while I find a pitcher."  
  
Hannah went for a cake, but caught Harry mouthing at her.  
  
"Don't eat!" he mouthed at her, then closed his mouth tightly, clenching his jaw, pointing to it. Hannah dropped the cauldron cake as if it were suddenly hot, but drank some tea instead. Harry and Ron went back to drinking their tea and consulting softly about a newspaper article. Hagrid came and sat at the table, setting down a milk pitcher.  
  
"Hagrid? There was a robbery at Gringotts and it was the day we went shopping. Was that for that—?  
  
Hagrid cleared his throat loudly. "Uh, yes, there was a robbery at Gringotts, Harry."  
  
"And that thing you brought to Hogwarts, that top secret thing, was that what the robber was after?"  
  
"Uh, probably," Hagrid mumbled, sinking his teeth into a cauldron cake, crunching hard. Hannah looked from one to the other, feeling she was missing something.  
  
"This thing that you're talking about, is that being guarded by something?" she suddenly thought aloud.  
  
"It would have to be, if it's so special," Harry eyed Hagrid.  
  
"Then that's what that three-headed dog was about!" Hermione spoke up, "I knew I saw a trapdoor and figured it was hiding something."  
  
"Why didn't you tell us about it, Hermione?"  
  
"Because I was too mad at you at that moment."  
  
"Wait a sec, you know about Fluffy?"  
  
"Fluffy?" Hannah exclaimed.  
  
"That thing has a name."  
  
"Sure, he's mine, bought him last year."  
  
"So he is guarding something?" Ron asked excitedly.  
  
"I-I've said too much…and there's the lunch bell, you'd better go! Go on now and don't go talking about things that aren't your concern!"  
  
Hagrid hurriedly escorted them out towards the castle.  
  
"There's definitely something going on that he's not telling us about." Harry looked back as he climbed the stone steps.  
  
"Yeah." Hannah agreed with a gleam in her eye.  
  
~**~  
  
"Eat something. You'll need it."  
  
"No, I'm fine."  
  
"This is your first quidditch match, you need strength."  
  
"If you're not ready, I'd gladly take your place."  
  
"Thanks Hannah, but I think I'm just gonna go to the field."  
  
Harry set out from the Great Hall with his new broomstick that Professor McGonagall had sent him, a Nimbus Two Thousand, over his shoulder.  
  
Hannah, Ron and Hermione looked back at him.  
  
"He's never gonna make it through," Ron said.  
  
"Don't say that! Of course he will!" Hermione turned to him.  
  
"I've got the banner ready in our room and Dean finished drawing it yesterday. It's gonna look great and it that doesn't encourage him, I don't know what will."  
  
The three left the Great Hall too, which wasn't that crowded anyway, everyone was getting ready for the first quidditch game of the season. Hannah and Hermione retrieved the banner they had created and ran up to the stands in the pitch. The teams were in the locker rooms and the stands were slowly filling up. They sat high up so as to see everything and soon after Hagrid joined them with a set of binoculars.  
  
Madame Hooch walked onto the field, blowing her whistle. The crowd silenced a little and the teams flew out on their brooms. Hannah had never been so excited. She cheered loudly right along with everyone else as the Gryffindor team flew out, waving the banner. It said "Potter for President" with a Gryffindor lion on the front, drawn by Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor. The colors of the words changed by a clever trick Hermione had found.  
  
Harry smiled at them from the air and did a loop. Hannah laughed and watched the teams get ready for the game. Today they were playing Slytherin. The opposing team in green looked very menacing and big. Madame Hooch blew her whistle and the game began. Hannah promptly began to get dizzy watching all the players going faster than her brain could direct. Ron was cheering and Hermione was biting her nails in nervousness, watching Harry. Gryffindor scored, but Hannah didn't know how. It was too fast to fathom anything.  
  
"How's Harry doing?" she yelled back at Hagrid, who had the binoculars raised.  
  
"Fine, he hasn't had much to do yet."  
  
The game went on and Slytherin scored, then Gryffindor, then Slytherin, it seemed never ending. Hannah tried to search one player at least, but they all moved in a blur.  
  
"Hey, what's goin' on with Harry?" Hagrid said suddenly, a little while later.  
  
"What could be wrong with Harry? What's happening? What's he doing?" Hermione stood up, panicking.  
  
"His broom's going all strange."  
  
Hannah grabbed the binoculars and searched Harry.  
  
"Oh my God! His broom it's going bonkers!" Harry was being flipped and swung around by what seemed like his broom. All of a sudden, a sudden jolt flipped Harry off his broom and he was hanging off it by one hand. Hannah gasped.  
  
Hermione snatched the binoculars and peered through the crowd.  
  
"Hermione, what are you doing?" Hannah asked.  
  
"I knew it! Look at Snape, he's jinxing the broom!"  
  
Hannah looked accordingly and raised her eyebrows in shock.  
  
Come on!" Hermione grabbed Hannah's hand, throwing the binoculars down.  
  
"Hey, where you going?" Ron shouted.  
  
"Be right back!"  
  
The girls scrambled through the seats and accidentally passed the quivering Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrel, knocking him over. Hermione took out her wand, going beneath the stands.  
  
"What are you—?  
  
"Hush." Hermione whispered something to her wand and a blue flame shot out of it onto Snape's robes, drooping down under the stands. It took a little while to realize that he was on fire, but when he did, he stood up, yelping. Hermione smiled and rushed back to Ron and Hagrid. They watched Harry and he slowly got his way up onto his broom again.  
  
"What's the score?"  
  
"Well, Wood's hurt, so—  
  
"Who's Wood?"  
  
"The team captain. He got hurt so Slytherin's been scoring a lot. If Harry doesn't catch the Snitch soon, we're gonna lose," Ron explained.  
  
"What's the Snitch?" Hannah asked hurriedly, not wanting the miss anything.  
  
"Shush, Harry's neck and neck with the Slytherin seeker."  
  
Hannah watched Harry hurtle towards the ground next to a huge boy in green. Something glittered towards the ground. As the two got closer and closer to the ground, the Slytherin seeker couldn't dive so low and turned upwards again. Harry zoomed downwards still and flipped up just before he hit the ground. The broom's tip hit the ground and he toppled onto the grass. Hannah gulped and Harry stood up slowly and put his hands over his stomach.  
  
"Looks like he's gonna be sick!" Hagrid said.  
  
Harry coughed and out of his mouth came a small golden-looking thing. He smiled and held it up for everyone to see. The Gryffindors exploded.  
  
"What just happened? What just happened?" Hannah screamed at Ron.  
  
"WE WON!" he yelled in her face and jumped up in his seat. Hannah shrugged and started cheering too. 


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten  
  
"Do you really have to leave?"  
  
"Yes, I do. I'm visiting my friends and I must travel down the Tomorrow Road and build a snowman in the Today Road and dig for the remnants of roses in the Yesterday Road. But I won't forget about looking for Nicholas Flamel."  
  
Nicholas Flamel, they had found, was a man connected to the strange "thing" that was hidden beneath the trapdoor and Fluffy, the three-headed dog. They had visited Hagrid and he accidentally let slip the name Nicholas Flamel and now that was all the children looked for. They had spent weeks in the library, searching for any mention of the man. But they found nothing.  
  
Hannah was just leaving for the Christmas holidays and was standing by her trunks in the Great Hall saying goodbye to Ron and Harry. Hermione came in behind her.  
  
"Hello all," she said, setting down a suitcase, "Now, Ron, you are going to help Harry search for more about Nicholas Flamel, right?"  
  
"But, Hermione—  
  
"—no buts, he's there somewhere, we haven't been looking hard enough."  
  
"But we've searched a hundred times, Hermione!" Ron groaned. Hermione leaned forward.  
  
"Not in the restricted section," she straightened back up, "Happy Christmas."  
  
Then she left, heaving her suitcase behind her. Hannah looked at Harry and Ron and shrugged.  
  
"Well, I'd better leave too. See ya and I will search for him too. I'll ask Sally and Mother. Don't worry. I'll try to come up with something."  
  
"Happy Christmas!" the boys called and Hannah waved back, before disappearing into the Great Hall towards the line of students waiting for the Hogwarts Express.  
  
Hannah arrived back home to a huge welcome. Mother was so happy to see her and the decorations around the house were magnificent.  
  
"Oh, Hannah we missed you so much!" Mother had said, squeezing her daughter as she walked through the front door. The hall staircase was festooned with holly and greenery. Hannah dropped her things, after more hugs from the maids and a gasp over the decorations, and rushed out the back door. She ran over the porch and into the snow-covered path, all the way across the field to a little path that could barely be seen under of drifts of white.  
  
Hannah slowed to a stroll along the Tomorrow Road and gazed out towards the coastline, all frozen and icy. She sighed and felt relieved to be back home. Hogwarts was all very well, but there was nothing like the comfort of home, even if she had only lived there a year. All of the recent happenings blew up in her mind, all tangled where she couldn't get them straight.  
  
"I'd better go to the Yesterday Road for this," she retraced her steps and ran along the field's edge to the smallest garden.  
  
Gasping for breath, she sat on a stone bench, covered in snow. Then Hogwarts came back into memory. Nicholas Flamel, Fluffy, quidditch, they all seemed so…like a dream somehow and she had just strayed a little bit too far into Tomorrow.  
  
Who could Nicholas Flamel be and what was his business with Hagrid's secret object? Why was it so hush-hush? Did it have to do with that evil wizard Voldemort?  
  
After a while, Hannah sighed and scratched her aching head. It was too lovely out to be muddling up her mind with serious and deep thoughts. She stood up and walked back through the little path, figuring she might as well take a stroll through the Today Road.  
  
The Today Road was a splendor of crystal and ivory. Hannah loved the intricate little hills the snow made over the sleeping plants. She walked around the hedges a bit, shivering a bit in the biting wind.  
  
All of a sudden, a snowball hit the back of her head.  
  
"Hey!" Hannah whirled around and jumped. Melanie was standing in front of her, all bundled up in scarves. Hannah yelled out and hugged her.  
  
"Where's the twins?"  
  
"That's what you say to me, after not seeing me for a year? 'Where's the twins'?"  
  
"Hey, sorry. How are you?"  
  
"Good. We're staying Christmas here with you. Mrs. Foster let us and we just arrived not ten minutes ago."  
  
"That's wonderful."  
  
"Where are we now? Your mum said something about the Today Road."  
  
"The Today Road? Why, you're standing in it. Isn't it beautiful?" Hannah looked around at her beloved garden. "It's really quite lovely in spring. It's full of smiling marigolds and—  
  
"There you go again, with one of your fully detailed explanations. Come on, let's get inside this amazing house, I'm freezing and Sally is making us hot cocoa."  
  
The two girls rushed to the back door, taking off their wraps. Katelyn and Sharon were waiting shyly, by the fire in the parlor.  
  
"Hannah!" they yelled. The twins bumped into each other trying to get their arms around Hannah's waist first. Sharon pushed Katelyn over.  
  
"Hey, don't push me!"  
  
"I didn't push you. You're just a klutz!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Stop it, stop it!" Hannah picked up Katelyn and embraced the both of them.  
  
"Now was that fair?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah."  
  
The Christmas holidays were splendid. Hannah couldn't believe it when Christmas had passed. She had a week left and Melanie and the twins were allowed to stay another couple of days.  
  
She told them all about her adventures at her new school.  
  
"Oh, it's wonderful! I saw a real fairy! And the people there are so different from muggles. The candy is delicious. I love Chocolate Frogs and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and Sugar Quills. There are several ghosts at Hogwarts too. Gryffindor's ghost is Nearly Headless Nick. His head is only nearly off because his murderer didn't do it properly."  
  
She stopped for breath, trying to remember other things. They were sitting by the fireplace in the family room. Hannah heard a sniffle and looked up from counting how many players there were in a quidditch match. Katelyn and Sharon were crying on each other's shoulders.  
  
"What's the matter?" Hannah asked, bewildered.  
  
"W-we want to come to Hogwarts with you too!" they sobbed.  
  
"I'm sorry. I won't talk about it anymore."  
  
"No, do!" Melanie sat closer to Hannah, "I love hearing you tell stories."  
  
"They're not stories! These are real!"  
  
Melanie took Hannah away from the sniffling twins.  
  
"You don't honestly think that I'd believe that little fairy tale you told to the twins. I think we're getting a little old for that."  
  
Hannah's mouth dropped.  
  
"How dare you! Never say you're too old for something! Where has your imagination gone, Melanie? Have I been away from you too long?"  
  
"Hannah, we're eleven now! I think we should move on from childish fancies, don't you agree?"  
  
"No I don't!" Hannah got up and stomped away. "Come on Katelyn and Sharon! I'll show you some magic!"  
  
Melanie followed the angry Hannah into the parlor. Sally was dusting the grand piano. Hannah got out her wand.  
  
"Hannah, remember the notice you got, saying you couldn't use magic over vacation." Sally warned.  
  
"Oh, please, Sally, it's just a bit a fun," Hannah moaned.  
  
"No, Hannah, now I want no more questions, all right?"  
  
"Okay," Hannah sighed and put her wand away. All of a sudden there was a tapping on the window. Melanie screamed as Hannah let in a huge tawny owl.  
  
"Hullo, Pandora! I see you have a letter for me."  
  
The owl pecked Hannah on the nose in affection and flew out of the window again. Hannah raised her eyebrows at Melanie as she ripped open the envelope.  
  
"Hi Hannah!  
  
I was wondering if you weren't doing anything for the rest of vacation that you could come stay with me for a few days in London. My parents would be delighted to have you and afterwards we could take you to Kings Cross Station. Hope you can come!  
  
Love,  
  
1 Hermione  
  
Another piece of paper showed Hermione's address.  
  
"Oh can I go, Sally? Can I?"  
  
"Go ask your mum."  
  
Hannah brought her friends with her into her mother's study. She glanced at Melanie, who was watching her with her mouth wide open. Hannah smiled in a told-you-so grin.  
  
Hannah was allowed to go to Hermione's and Melanie, Katelyn and Sharon left when Hannah did.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't believe you, Hannah. You are an amazing girl. I will keep my imagination as long as I possibly can."  
  
"Good to hear, Melanie. I'll come and visit you in the summer. See you, Katelyn and Sharon!"  
  
"Bye Hannah!" they said in unison.  
  
Hannah was sent on a train to London and spent a few merry days with Hermione. On the way back to Hogwarts, Hermione brought the subject of Nicholas Flamel.  
  
"I've been thinking a lot about this and I think Snape has something to do with it. Remember when he was trying to jinx Harry's broom?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Harry conquered the Dark Lord. Maybe Snape is in charge of He-Who-Must-Not- Be-Named. Maybe he was trying to kill Harry for the Dark Lord."  
  
"It sounds strange, but not impossible. We have a suspect. I'm Sherlock and you're Watson."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Nothing." 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven  
  
"Doesn't the moonlight give such a glow to the castle? It makes the towers look so much more evil and secretive, doesn't it?"  
  
"Hush. We'll be found."  
  
"But—  
  
"Ow! The bloody creature bit me!"  
  
Harry and Hannah were sneaking their way under Harry's invisibility cloak that he got for Christmas, towards the North Tower. With them was a dangerous baby dragon. After the Christmas holidays, Hannah and her friends had went to visit Hagrid and he a bit of a surprise for them. Hagrid had always loved the dangerous creatures and had always wanted a dragon all his life. That visit was an interesting one because they had viewed the hatching of the rather ugly dragon. Hagrid mothered it as if it were a kitten. Hannah thought it was fascinating, but she didn't really like the thought of Hagrid having a pet dragon.  
  
"But you live in a wooden house, Hagrid," they had reminded him, "And dragons are illegal. You could get in big trouble for having one."  
  
At first Hagrid wouldn't believe them, but finally they coaxed enough for Ron to call his brother Charlie who worked with dragons in Romania.  
  
So, Harry and Hannah were taking the dragon to the North Tower in the dark of the night for Charlie's friends to take the baby dragon off their hands.  
  
"Are we almost there?"  
  
"Yes, you asked that twenty seconds ago. I told you Ron should've come instead."  
  
"And me miss an adventure of a lifetime? Nuh-uh."  
  
"Life is an adventure, Hannah."  
  
"Oh, I know that. I've always known that. But I don't want to miss the most exciting parts."  
  
"Sshh. Ok, we're here. They should be coming in a few minutes."  
  
As he was speaking, four figures appeared in the sky on broomsticks. Hannah waved as they disposed of the creature.  
  
"Come on, let's hurry back, I'm tired."  
  
They ran down the winding stairs from the tower and down a corridor, turning a corner and bumping into someone.  
  
"I told you Professor, they're here with a dragon," Malfoy's voice came out of the darkness. Professor McGonagall appeared in front of the two Gryffindors. They had forgotten the cloak up in the tower.  
  
"Oops." Hannah muttered.  
  
"What are you two doing out of bed anyway? Being out of bed is unacceptable. Fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor for your disobeying."  
  
"Fifty?!" Hannah exclaimed.  
  
"Each," Professor McGonagall looked sternly down at the students, "And all three of you will receive detentions."  
  
Malfoy had been standing in the background trying not to laugh, but came to his senses after her statement.  
  
"I'm sorry, I thought you said three detentions. I must have heard you wrong."  
  
"No, Mr. Malfoy. Even though you did do the right thing, you were still out of bed and will receive detention with these two."  
  
Hannah smirked at Malfoy. Malfoy narrowed his eyes back at her.  
  
When the other Gryffindors saw the 100-point deduction the next day, Harry and Hannah were suddenly outcasts. Gryffindors were now the losing house and wouldn't have a chance to win the House Cup. Hannah had gotten very well liked among the first years, but now no one spoke to her with the exception of Harry, Ron and Hermione.  
  
"You'll be working with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest for your detention," Filch told them as he led Hannah, Harry and Malfoy down the grounds to the edge of the trees.  
  
"The Forbidden Forest? Oh, how exciting!" Hannah clapped her hands. Harry and Malfoy gave her shocked looks.  
  
"I don't know about that missy," Filch said, menacingly, "There's werewolves in them woods and a lot scarier, you can bet on that."  
  
"Oh, I've never seen a werewolf before!" Hannah smiled, "This is going to be fun!"  
  
"Doesn't anything scare you?" Harry asked, impatiently.  
  
"No…well, um…no, nothing scares me," Hannah thought aloud.  
  
"But that's impossible! You have to be scared of something!" Malfoy protested, sneering.  
  
"Well, I haven't found that out yet. And I'm only not scared of anything because I don't let myself be scared. Confidence comes first in everything."  
  
Malfoy rolled his eyes.  
  
"Thanks, I'll log that away, Miss Perfect."  
  
"Just telling you, it might come in handy when you go inside, Malfoy. You don't look so fine yourself."  
  
"I'm FINE," Malfoy clenched his teeth, though they were chattering ever so slightly.  
  
"All right, kids, tonight we're trying to find an injured unicorn," Hagrid came out of his hut with Fang at his heels and a bow and arrow in his hands. Hannah's eyes glowed with excitement.  
  
"There's been something around killing the unicorns in the forest and we're gonna try to find out what it is," Hagrid continued.  
  
They headed into the forest as a group and then spilt into two. Hannah went with Hagrid and Harry and Malfoy were put with Fang. Hannah glanced at Malfoy as she walked away and saw that he looked a little paler than usual. She gave a little snicker.  
  
Hannah followed Hagrid deeper and deeper into the woods. They had told Harry and Malfoy to shoot up red sparks if they were in trouble and green sparks if they needed help.  
  
"How about yellow sparks for something interesting they found?" Hannah had asked, "What about blue sparks for something gross? Purple sparks for something beautiful, and pink sparks…just of fun!"  
  
"Hannah!" Hagrid fairly yelled, "Please be quiet! We're trying to find a unicorn and there could be dangerous things on the way!"  
  
"Sorry, I'm just so excited!"  
  
"Sshh!"  
  
"Sorry again."  
  
The two walked until the path was barely visible in the darkness. Hannah squinted into the blackness for something, but nothing came out.  
  
"GET BEHIND THAT TREE!" Hagrid yelled and he took his crossbow out.  
  
Hannah dived behind the nearest tree trunk and waited breathlessly.  
  
"Oh, it's just you, Ronan," Hagrid sighed. Hannah's mouth dropped with glee and surprise. It was a half man, half horse animal. He had red hair and a long red tail.  
  
"Oh, my goodness," Hannah exclaimed, stepping out from behind the tree.  
  
"Why, hello, young one, Mars is bright tonight, is it not?" Ronan looked down at Hannah and then up at the sky.  
  
"Oh, yes, it is, I love watching the stars," Hannah sighed. Hagrid rolled his eyes at the two of them.  
  
"Me too. We centaurs are the stargazers. I'm glad you find the same interests."  
  
"Oh, I've always enjoyed the stars. They give such scope for imagination, don't you think? You can read entire histories from them." Hannah clasped her hands, thinking of a book she read once that had some of those very words.  
  
"Well spoken, little one," Ronan nodded.  
  
"Well, when you two are done jabbering, we have to find an injured unicorn. Have you seen one Ronan?"  
  
"Not as I know of, but it's a big forest." Ronan sighed at the moon. Hagrid grumbled.  
  
"Thanks for your help. Come on, Hannah."  
  
Hagrid picked up Hannah and slung the little girl over his massive shoulder.  
  
"Good bye Ronan," Hannah called.  
  
"Sshh! You'll wake everything in the forest!" Hagrid hissed.  
  
"Was that really a centaur?" Hannah gazed back at the spot they had just been.  
  
"Yeah, real nice creatures, but I always thought they weren't all there. Get on my nerves after a while."  
  
"I think they must be some of most insightful creatures ever."  
  
"Yeah, well…"  
  
All of a sudden, there was a yell and red sparks came from their right.  
  
"Harry!" Hannah yelled and leaped to the ground. Being small, she ducked under the undergrowth and about the trees and Hagrid simply plowed down everything.  
  
"Harry! Where are you? AAAHH!"  
  
Hannah screamed as another huge centaur jumped in front of her.  
  
"Hannah. I'm up here on Firenze."  
  
Hannah looked up and saw Harry on the back of the huge animal. It let Harry off and galloped away.  
  
"Wow. This forest is so full of life."  
  
"You're tellin' me. Wait till I tell you." Harry began to describe his adventure.  
  
"We found the unicorn, but someone with a black hood was bending over it, drinking its blood."  
  
"Like Dracula?" Hannah wrinkled her nose in disgust.  
  
"Yeah," Harry recognized the muggle character, "So I went closer and the someone stood up, blood dripping from its chin."  
  
"Yuck." Hannah commented. They started walking with Hagrid and Malfoy.  
  
"It was coming towards me and I tried to run until Firenze came and saved me. He said that unicorn's blood makes you live longer, but for a bad price. He said to slay a unicorn was a very evil deed and that whoever drank of its blood would live a half life."  
  
Hannah raised her eyebrows.  
  
"This adventure is getting way complicated." 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve  
  
"But that wasn't it," Harry continued as he retold the story to Ron and Hermione, "Firenze told me that it might be Voldemort underneath that cloak."  
  
"Oh, but Harry! You could've been killed right there if he had caught you."  
  
"Which means," Harry interrupted Hermione, "Voldemort must be the one after the stone and Snape must be helping him."  
  
Hannah had told Harry and Ron of her conversation with Hermione. They seemed to have solved the puzzle.  
  
"But where could the 'something' be hidden?" Ron asked, thinking.  
  
"Oh my goodness! You really are hopeless aren't you?" Hermione asked exasperated.  
  
"Oh sorry, I seemed to have missed something," Ron commented annoyed.  
  
"Don't you remember the three-headed dog when we saw it in October?" Hermione continued.  
  
"Yeah," Ron shuddered.  
  
"Well, didn't you see what it was standing on?"  
  
"Not exactly, the heads got me a little preoccupied Hermione."  
  
"Well, if you used your eyes with your brain, you would see that Fluffy was standing on a trapdoor."  
  
"Yeah, so?"  
  
Hermione gave him a look. "Hello? That's where that secret thing must be hidden. Fluffy is guarding it."  
  
Hannah's eyes widened as if a light suddenly clicked on in her brain.  
  
"I remember that!" she exclaimed.  
  
"At least someone does," Hermione sighed.  
  
"We're going to have to keep a close eye on that Snape."  
  
Weeks passed and nothing happened. There were a few quidditch games and Hannah finally understood the concept of the game. Winter turned into spring and Easter vacation passed with the planting of new flowers in the Today Road and the Tomorrow Road. The Yesterday Road was blooming all over with color. Hannah's favorite Mojave roses were brought to the Gryffindor dorm room, filling it with a flowery scent. Hannah explained admiringly to Hermione that Mojave roses showed every color of the sunrise from the lightest of golds to the brightest of pinks. Hannah kept on the lookout for anything suspicious when Snape was around, but nothing out-of-the-ordinary occurred, save the daily reprimands of the slimy teacher.  
  
One evening in mid June, Hannah was down with Harry at the quidditch field and he was teaching her how to be Keeper in quidditch and how to save the quaffles from going through the hoop.  
  
"Wow, you're getting pretty good at this," Harry threw another, which Hannah dived and caught.  
  
"I happen to have a certain knack for sports myself from my friend, Melanie," Hannah tossed the quaffle back to him.  
  
"Who's Melanie?"  
  
"A muggle I lived with in a foster care home."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry."  
  
"Sorry for what?"  
  
"You don't have any parents either."  
  
"Oh, I have a mother, but my father is dead."  
  
"Then why were you in foster care?"  
  
"My mother couldn't take care of me."  
  
Harry was silent for a moment, then looked at the sky.  
  
"We should probably go in now, it's getting dark."  
  
"Ok."  
  
They lowered to the ground, leaving the quaffle and the brooms in the locker room. As they walked over the grounds past the Forbidden Forest, Hannah suddenly heard voices.  
  
"Wait, stop," she hissed, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Sshh! I heard voices."  
  
They tiptoed to the edge of the forest and climbed onto Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand, sliding into the hiding of the trees, listening and trying not to breathe.  
  
"…Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"  
  
"B-b-but Severus, I—  
  
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrel," Snape interrupted. Hannah held her breath.  
  
"I-I don't know what you—  
  
"You know perfectly well what I mean."  
  
Hannah's foot slipped and she bit her lip to stop herself from gasping. Once she steadied herself, she listened in again.  
  
"…your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."  
  
"B-b-but I d-don't—  
  
"Very well," Snape cut Quirrel off, "We'll have another chat soon, when you have time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."  
  
Hannah looked at Harry, shocked and waited for Snape and Quirrel to leave. As soon as they heard the entrance doors close, they leaped down from the tree and hurried up to the common room.  
  
"So does this mean that as long Quirrel doesn't tell Snape where the thing is, it's safe?" Hermione asked after Hannah had told them breathlessly what had happened.  
  
"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," Ron slipped into a chair.  
  
The next day they made their discovery.  
  
"I'm so sick of looking for this stupid guy Nicholas Flamel. I'll bet he's not even real." Ron complained, slamming another book down on one of the tables in the common room.  
  
They were sitting amongst a pile of books and they hadn't found one thing. Suddenly Hermione gasped.  
  
"What? Have you found it?" Hannah asked.  
  
Hermione ran to the girl's dorm door and disappeared up the stairs.  
  
"Probably forgot to do a piece of homework," Ron muttered, putting his feet on the table. A couple minutes later Hermione came down, holding a huge book in her hands.  
  
"I can't believe I forgot this. I took this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading!" Hermione flopped onto a chair.  
  
"That's light?" Hannah asked. Hermione gave her a look.  
  
She flipped through pages until she stopped and ran a finger down the text.  
  
"Ah ha! Here it is!" Hermione pointed dramatically at the page. Hannah moved over and read it aloud animatedly.  
  
"The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. This stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)."  
  
Hannah looked up thoughtfully.  
  
"No, wait! Let me read it again! I can do it with more drama! The ancient study of--!"  
  
"It's OK Hannah!" Harry nudged her and she stopped, "Remember, we're the only ones who know about this Sorcerer's Stone and students aren't supposed to know about it."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Well, it's no wonder You-Know-Who is after it. Anyone would want something that would turn any metal into gold and make you immortal," Hermione thought aloud.  
  
"Yeah. That would be so neat to have!" Hannah propped her chin in her hand, daydreaming.  
  
Final exams passed and on the last day, Hannah was found under a big tree in the cool shade. She was weaving all kinds of things through her mind, finally getting off the subject of the Sorcerer's Stone. The Tomorrow Road didn't seem any closer at all, but the Today Road sure was looking well. She was surrounded by the most interesting lifestyle she could possibly want. She had good friends and she was right the middle of her adventure and she was sure it was going to get exciting soon.  
  
Suddenly Harry, Ron and Hermione came running up to her.  
  
"Hannah! Come on, we have to talk to Dumbledore!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Voldemort's gonna steal the Stone soon!"  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"We were talking to Hagrid, but there's no time to explain. Come on!"  
  
Hannah was pulled to her feet and yanked to the castle. In the entrance hall they met Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Professor! We need to talk to Professor Dumbledore right away!"  
  
The teacher looked startled.  
  
"He's gone to London just a few hours ago. Why?"  
  
"We…we know about the Sorcerer's Stone!"  
  
McGonagall dropped all her books.  
  
"Look, I don't know how you found out, but I insist you go outside and stop nosing into businesses that are not your own."  
  
The teacher walked away.  
  
Hannah looked after her, panting. Harry turned to face the three others.  
  
"Now that Dumbledore's gone, Snape will have a perfect chance at trying to get past Fluffy! There's only one thing to do! We have to go down that trapdoor…tonight." 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen  
  
"Ready?" "Ready, sir!" "Shut up Hannah." "Sorry." Harry sat down nonchalantly and played a game of chess with Ron, watching everyone out of the corner of his eye. They were waiting for everyone to leave the common room, so to make their escape down the trapdoor. At around eleven thirty, people finally started to go to bed. At midnight, it looked as though they were the only ones there. "Ok, I think we can go now," Harry said, standing up after being beaten by Ron four times in a row. "Finally," Hannah groaned standing and stretching. Hermione got up from a book. "Hey, isn't that Neville's toad?" Hermione hissed. "Hey, Trevor, you shouldn't be here!" Ron whispered at the amphibian. "And neither should you!" a voice came from behind the armchair and Neville stepped out. "You're going out again, aren't you?" Neville asked, suspiciously. "No, of course not, Neville. Now go up to bed," Hannah soothed. "You've already lost Gryffindor any chance of winning the House Cup. You'll get expelled next. You can't go. I-I'll fight you!" Neville held up two shaking fists. "Neville, this is beyond your understanding. Please don't do this." Hannah pleaded. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this," Hermione moved to the front of the four. "Sintrificus Totalus!" she waved her wand, pointing it at Neville. Neville's body seized up and he fell backwards like a wooden board. "What was that?" Ron asked awed. "Full body bind," Hermione looked sorrowfully at Neville, "I'm really sorry." "It's for your own good, you know," Harry muttered as they walked out. Neville's eyes only moved, staring after them.  
  
"This is going to be difficult," Ron gulped at the sleeping Fluffy. "No, it's not," Hannah said, "Harry said that Hagrid told him Fluffy goes to sleep easily with some soft music. It appears Snape has already been here and has magicked this harp to play by itself." Everyone looked to the corner where soft music was playing. "Come on, we have to hurry," Harry scrambled over to the dog. "Here it is!" Ron hissed, peering down a square hole in the floor. The top was open. "I'll go first. If you don't hear from me, send an owl to Dumbledore," Harry instructed. Hannah looked down the hole to see total darkness. "It looks awful dark down there, what if it's the bottomless pit?" "Then where would they hide the Stone?" Ron asked, annoyed. "In the side of it." Hannah protested. "Sshh, I'm going down." Harry lowered himself so he was hanging from his fingertips. "Bye." He let go and disappeared into the blackness. One by one they dropped down. Hannah was last and gave one last look at the sleeping form of Fluffy. Closing her eyes, she let go and fell into cold air, down, down, finally flumping softly onto some kind of smooth green plant. "Lucky this here to catch us," Hannah panted. "Lucky? Look at you!" Hermione's voice came from behind her. Hannah looked down at her feet and saw that tiny vines had stealthily sneaked up her ankles and around her wrists, chaining her to the plant. "Devil's Snare," Hermione whispered. "Aaahhh!" Harry's voice yelled, "It's got my throat!" "Stop moving and calm down! It'll only kill you faster if you move!" Hermione shouted at them. "Kill us faster? Oh, now I can relax!" Ron shouted. Hermione slowly disappeared under the leaves. "Hermione!" Hannah screamed, feeling the vines around her stomach. "I'm alright! Just relax!" Hermione shouted from below. Hannah started feeling panicky and started muttering frantically to herself. "Oh, jeez, this is just like in that muggle movie, The Great Mouse Detective, where Basil is trapped under every way to die possible and there's no escape. That's it. I'm just going to suffocate and then no more- Tomorrow Road and no more Melanie or the twins or- "Hannah! Please! Trust me! Relax!" Hermione's voice shouted from below. "Come on Hannah! Ron, shut up and relax!" Harry's voice came from near Hermione's. He must've gotten down already. Hannah took a few deep breaths. Ok, nice things, Tomorrow Road, peonies in the Today Road, the roses in the Yesterday Road, Mother's laugh crinkles, Melanie and the twins." "You're not relaxing, Hannah!" Harry yelled, "Hermione, do something!" "I'm trying to remember! Oh, of course! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!" "Then make a fire!" Ron choked out. "Well, yes but there's no wood!" she wrung her hands in panic. "HERMIONE! ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT!" Ron shouted. "Oh, yes sorry." She waved her wand and blue flames shot towards the plant and Hannah and Ron came falling down. They stood up, brushing themselves off, panting. "Well.lucky we didn't panic," Ron replied. Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's go." "Do you hear something?" Harry suddenly froze. "It's sounds like wings," Ron listened. "I hope it's butterflies," Hannah swallowed. Ron turned on her, amused. "You're not afraid are you?" he asked. "No! I'm just nervous. One can feel nervous can't one? I'm not afraid of anything and especially you, Ronald Weasley." "All right, all right, let's go." They opened the door to the next chamber. There was a fluttering of wings and as they looked up, they saw a whole bunch of flying things. "They could be vicious." Harry murmured, "I'll go over first and see if it's safe." He ran across the room, hands over his head. Nothing happened. "The door's locked!" he shouted as he reached the opposite side. Hannah was examining the flying things. Suddenly, she burst out laughing. "These aren't birds!" she got out, "They're keys! One of them goes to that door!" she pointed. "Here, there's brooms. We'll all fly up and look for it. The key is probably silver and old-fashioned like the handle." Harry ran to a pile of broomsticks in the corner. "Oh, yes I get to fly again!" Hannah cried and ran over, and zooming into the air. They flew around for a few minutes, until Harry shouted out, "There it is!" A rather large key with a broken wing, like it had been caught before, hovered above Ron's head. Hannah flew underneath him, Hermione on the side and Harry drove right towards it, slamming it against the wall with his hand. Hannah whooped. "All right! Next chamber!" she yelled, making twirls as she spun to the ground. They opened the door to darkness. Hannah looked around expectedly. As they walked in, torches were lighted and a huge life-size chessboard appeared in front of them with the pieces higher than their heads. "Whoa," Hannah murmured, gazing up at the motionless stone men. "What do we have to do?" Hermione walked forward, timidly. "I think its obvious, we have to play our way across to the next door," Ron pointed out the door behind the white chessmen on the other side, "We'll each take a square." Hannah, Hermione and Harry listened carefully knowing that Ron was all better at this than they were. "Harry, you be a castle. Hermione, be a bishop and Hannah, be a pawn." Ron pointed out the pieces. The pieces must have listened because they moved off the board. "What are you going to be Ron?" Hannah asked, as she stepped on her square in the front. "I'm going to be a knight," he said importantly as he stepped up onto the stone horse, holding onto the reins. "How come you get to be the knight?" Hannah folded her arms, grinning. "Come on, Hannah, Snape is probably already in the last chamber, we have to hurry. Now, white goes first see," Ron nodded to the other side where a white pawn moved one space forwards. "Now you, Hannah," Ron instructed. "I know how to play," she protested and started walking forward. "ONE space forward, stop, STOP!" Hannah froze with her foot in the air, swallowing. "Hehe, just testing ya, Ron, I know it's only one space." "Hmm." The game went for a while. Hannah managed to get to the other side and stayed, sitting in the corner, watching while Ron ordered the pieces around. "Uh oh," Ron said, looking around. "What? What's happening?" Hannah stood up, ready for some excitement. The game was almost finished. "In order to win the game, Harry, I have to be sacrificed," Ron, said getting a little pale, his freckles standing out. "No, Ron!" Hannah cried out. "I have to! If we want to get to Snape, I have to be sacrificed!" Harry and Hermione tried to stop him, but he was adamant. Hannah watched fearfully as Ron made his move and the Queen made her way to smash him. She bit her lip as she came nearer and nearer. She wanted out of this adventure, it was no fun anymore, not when one of her friends was getting hurt. Squeezing her eyes shut, she heard the crash of rock on marble and opened her eyes to see Ron fall to the ground. She started to run to him. "STOP!" Harry cried, "Remember, we're still playing!" "Oh, sorry," Hannah muttered, halting in her tracks and backing up, tears falling down her face. Harry walked in front of the king and yelled, "Checkmate!" The king's sword fell at Harry's feet and they ran to Ron. Hermione knelt by him, looking him over. Ron was out cold and cuts were splattered all over his face and arms. Hannah covered her hands over her mouth, eyes watering. "Come on, we'll have to come back for him," Harry said, standing up, "Snape is too near to the Stone. We have to go." "I-I'll stay here," Hannah said suddenly. "What?" Harry asked surprised, "I thought you lived for adventure." "Oh, I do," Hannah exclaimed, "I love that train of adventure to no particular destination, but just now I want to get off." "Ok," Harry shrugged, "Suit yourself. Come on Hermione." "Bye, Hannah, take care of yourself and Ron. We'll be back soon." Hermione hugged her friend's trembling shoulders. Hannah watched as Harry and Hermione stepped through to the other chamber. Looking down at Ron, she sank to the ground, thinking. Was this cowardly? Was she afraid of something? And if she was, what was it? Hannah sat beside Ron quietly for a few minutes. "Tomorrow seems not too far away. I can almost see it," she murmured as she stared at the door Harry and Hermione had disappeared through. "It's there, I don't know when I'll ever get there, but I will someday. Someday. Isn't that a lovely word?" She hugged her knees, talking to break the silence. "I didn't know what I was getting into when I agreed to live with my mother. This was far more than I bargained for. I liked reading adventures stories and pretending them, but I didn't know real adventures were so intense. And now Ron." She looked down at her friend, lying in the rubble and the dust. "Ron!" she whispered, shaking him. "Ron!" she slapped his face a couple times. The boy groaned and his eyes slowly opened. "Where the heck am I? Oh yeah, chess. I'm sick of chess." "Sshh, just lie still, we're waiting for Hermione and Harry to come back," Hannah sat back, listening. "Where are they?" "They went to the next chamber to find Snape." "Oh, right." They waited for what seemed like hours until a creak of the door made Hannah jump. In reality, it had only been thirty minutes. Hermione ran towards them, not accompanied by Harry. "Where's Harry?" Hannah asked, immediately. "He's in the last chamber," Hermione panted, "Only one person could go, it's a long story." Hannah tried to heave Ron up. "No, I can stand up by myself," Ron snatched away his hand. He fell back, groaning, rubbing his head. "Ok, maybe not," he said. "Ok, come on," Hannah grabbed him and slung him over her shoulder, followed by a yelp from Ron, probably from surprise more than anything. Hermione watched amazed as Hannah walked carefully across to the door they had come in back to the flying key room. "God, you're heavy!" Hannah moaned as she hitched Ron farther up over her shoulder. "Well, what did you expect?" Ron yelled from behind. They managed somehow to get brooms and to fly Ron up through the trapdoor and into the hospital wing. All Hannah remembered after that was being shown to a comfortable- looking bed and flopping on it, falling into a deep sleep. 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen  
  
Hannah's eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she thought it was Tomorrow. Then, reality kicked in and she remembered what she had been through that night. She moved her head to the left to see Hermione's sleeping form on the bed next to her and Ron was on the other side of her. Hannah looked to the other side, finding Harry also sleeping. "Harry!" she gasped and tried to get up to shake him awake, but she was too tired. A door opened somewhere and Dumbledore came in. Hannah gasped, sitting up and smoothing out her nightgown in nervousness. "I've been in here once today," the wizard said, sitting on the side of Hannah's bed. "I was explaining to Harry. As you see, he has fallen asleep again, but I don't blame him in the least." Hannah was very confused. "What happened to him?" she asked timidly. "Well, after he left you and got to the last chamber, he met with Quirrel." "Quirrel? Why was he down there? Did he get some courage after all and try to conquer Snape?" "Unfortunately, no, Hannah." "Then why was he there?" "Because he was the one who was possessed with Voldemort." "WHAT?! Stuttering, old professor Quirrel?" "Hannah, be kind even if he is not what you expected him to be." "But what happened to him?" "I cannot tell you everything, that is for Harry to decide, but I can tell you that Quirrel is no longer with us." "Oh, good. I never trusted him, like Long John Silver from Treasure Island," Hannah said, "Ever read it?" "Why, yes, an excellent muggle book indeed," Dumbledore smiled. "Sir, if you don't my asking, when do you think I will get to Tomorrow?" she asked him this because she thought he must be the wisest wizard there ever was and he must know. "Well, I don't rightly know. What do you expect to find there?" "Everything I don't have now, but wish to have, like my father for instance." "I see." "Do you know how he died?" Hannah asked a question she was too afraid to ask her mother. Dumbledore suddenly looked very grave. Hannah blushed in embarrassment, thinking she asked an offending question. "I'm sorry, sir, I- "Oh, no, I think it's time you knew." "Knew what?" "Your father is not dead, little one." "He's not?" Hannah asked excitedly, "Then is this Tomorrow, or am I dreaming?" "He's not what you expect, Hannah, he.he went the same way Quirrel did." "What do you mean? You don't mean my father is on the.the Dark Side, do you?" "I'm afraid so. He was before you were born and to protect you from him, your mother put you in a foster home." A light clicked on in Hannah's brain. "So that's why," she exclaimed. Then she hesitated, "Do I have any reason to fear him?" "Not at all, Hannah. He is currently in Azkaban, the wizard prison." "Oh," Hannah's eyes filled with tears. Dumbledore smiled at the girl. "Don't worry. Your mother is still here and you have been through a courageous act tonight. I say you are quite a hero." "Really?" Hannah wiped away tears. "Yes." "Tomorrow is closer than I thought tonight, Professor," Hannah smiled shyly. "It always is, Hannah."  
  
Hannah couldn't believe how fast the end of the year went. The final dinner flew past and the extra points her and her comrades won for Gryffindor got them the House Cup for the first time in four years. And then the train ride home, it seemed to fly by. As Hannah stepped into King's Cross Station, waving goodbye to Harry, Ron and Hermione and followed her mother, Tomorrow peeked through a little bit, tapping her on the shoulder. "I don't think life was ever meant to be lived in such a fashion," she commented on the taxi ride home to her mother. "Oh, really, what makes you think so?" her mother asked, amused. "All of the things I wanted to have happen this year happened. It was too expected. I think Today, right now, should be spontaneous and surprising, so you don't know what will get you next. That's what Tomorrow will be." 


End file.
